5 Strategies for Teaching with Confidence

Adults prefer to learn from educators who respect them and support them in growing their confidence in the subject they are learning (Lui, n.d.). When educators have confidence in themselves and how they are teaching they are better able to inspire confidence in their students.

Confidence does not occur overnight and must be continually worked at building. However, there are some quick activities educators can do to increase their confidence in the moment, which can increase their confidence overall.

1. Set your scene. Make sure you’re working in a distraction free environment with good lighting in front of you. Create a background in your work space or upload a virtual background to Zoom that supports you in feeling confident. If you don’t want to see yourself, you can hide your self-view.
2. Sit or stand in a power pose that makes you look and feel more open and expansive. This can support a person in feeling more powerful and more willing to take risks which can lead to an increase in feeling confident (Elsesser, 2020).
3. Hold onto a stress ball or another fidget so you can release any nervous energy in a way students won’t see.
4. Ask students a low risk prompt question (what’s the weather like where students are, what did/are they going to have for dinner, etc.) when you experience technological difficulties or are launching a Zoom feature that takes you some time to figure out. That allows your students to build relationships with each other while you get things to work the way you want them to.
5. Scaffold your use of Zoom features. Try one new feature every week to build up your confidence using them. Reflect after every session about what worked well and what could be improved so you can intentionally focus on improving for the following week.

These simple suggestions can help you feel more confident teaching. With additional practice and more experience, your confidence will build enough that it takes over self-doubt with each live session you teach.

Works cited: 

• Elsesser, Kim. (October 2, 2020). The Debate on Power Posing Continues: Here’s Our Stance. Forbes. Retrieved on Sept 9, 2022 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/10/02/the-debate-on-power-posing-continues-heres-where-we-stand/?sh=36fce5bc202e
• Lui, Lu. (n.d.).  Adult Learning Theory. Theoretical Models for Teaching and Research. Retrieved on Sept 9, 2022 from https://opentext.wsu.edu/theoreticalmodelsforteachingandresearch/chapter/adult-learning-theory/

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