Lets all fake it till you make it.

Hello. 

I thought i'd steal a blog post idea from my friend Emily. 
You can find said blog post here.  :)

1. "Fake it 'til you make it" (also called "act as if") is a common catchphrase that means to imitate confidence so that as the confidence produces success, it will generate real confidence"

I don't know about you, but I'm quite partial to a bit of "faking it till you make it." I mean, I don't do it all the time but quite often if you see me overreacting to something, or using bit hand gestures then 9 times out of 10 I'm a nervous wreck and I'm meant to playing it cool. I know its not me that does this. You can bet that every man and his dog gets nervous. In the industry I am currently studying to be in, its definitely not a good thing.

I remember being told by an old boss, that I get really flustered and I start making mistakes when I'm nervous, when don't think I'm good enough to be doing what I'm doing, that that's my downfall. 

A lot of people, when nervous just break down and decide that they simply cannot do the take they were set. 

I know recently, my "faking" persona has got a hell of a lot better. I mean, Over the past year or so I have had around about 5 interviews and I've gotten 4/5 of the jobs. But certain things, you'll literally just see me crumble. Especially around guys. I become a complete wreck around boys. I always say to myself, "Kirsten, if you see (insert name) today, just act cool." It never happens, I always end up making a complete tit out of myself. I know it doesn't help me but I just cant help it. 

Its the complete same with presentations. I go up to start, I try to talk about one subject, and I either start falling about my words, or start talking about something completely off topic. Why is this? I mean, what goes on in peoples brains for them to completely lose it at the most important times? 

I googled how to "fake it till you make it" (Apparently, google is a good "go-to" tool) and I'm not sure what it told me, is in any way a good idea. A lot of the things I read, basically told me to become an arrogant ass. Which im not about. But I did stumble upon one website, which I'll link here if anyone wants to have a mooch at. It basically talks about:

• Body language.

I know for a fact that know one in their right mind would take anyone seriously if they were stood with their arms crossed, or slumped down in a chair. I know the right posture gives off the vibe that you know what you're talking about. So, standing up straight, or keeping your back straight while sitting down will show people that you're serious, and you're there for business. (Or whatever that saying is.) While you're doing this if you're looking down at hands or fiddling with something while someone is trying to talk to you, you're going to look rude, aren't you? Try holding some eye contact. Whoever it is will respect you a bit more.

• How you speak.

Its going to be a bit obvious that you're stupidly nervous if you start speaking really fast. You're going to start tripping over your words, then get flustered that you've done that. Its definitely not going to make a good impression. if you've got a speech to read, ask a friend to sit with you while you practice. It might help in the long run.

• How you dress

If you dress like you feel a thousand pounds, then I feel like that's how its going to come across. Reminder that you'll only ever get out what you put in. So if you go to interviews or presentations in jeans and hoodies, get rejected or a bad grade then wonder why? then obviously you're doing something wrong. 

I probably couldn't say much else about this subject, seeing as I still have a LONG way to go before I can stop "faking it" 

I really hope you've enjoyed this blog post. 

Thanks for reading.

Kirst x