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Have you ever found yourself talking (or writing) about your business or your services and felt that you were struggling to convince yourself that you had value to offer?

In other words, somewhere in the back of your mind you have doubts that your services will really provide the value you are promising.

And this puts you in an awkward position.

If you come off as lacking conviction, you simply won't persuade anyone. If you try to fake conviction, you risk turning people off even more; it could sound as if you're lying.

What you're aiming for is authentic conviction.

But this can be hard if you have all kinds of doubts about the ultimate value of your services. You think: "Well, it usually works, but not always," or "Most people get results but not everyone," or "I don't have a lot of experience or much of a track record yet."

You could also have a stellar track record and still hesitate about speaking with conviction: "I don't want to trick anyone into thinking I have all the answers," or "If I sound too confident, people will think I'm bragging."

The inevitable result of all these doubts is that you either clam up completely or end up talking about your services hesitantly (and sounding very unsure of yourself). And, of course, that's bad marketing!

The good news is that you can express authentic conviction, and you don't have to change anything about your services or your business experience to do so.

What you need to do is recognize and tap into your past and current experiences and results. You need to find the truth and express it in a very straightforward way.

For instance, if you relate to me, in detail, the story of one of your greatest successes with a client, you will automatically become more confident and enthusiastic as you speak. You don't have to put anything on.

Another way of saying this is: Get out of your mind (where all the undermining doubts reside) and get into your actual experience (where your authentic conviction resides).

You don't need to change anything to do this. It's already there.

The following exercise is a powerful way to liberate your authentic conviction. It comes from the wonderful book, "Brag!" by Peggy Klaus. Just answer these questions:

1. What are your biggest strengths or positive characteristics? (According to you and others)

2. List the ten most interesting things you have done or have experienced in your life.

3. How did you get into the business you're in now?

4. What are you passionate and excited about in your business?

5. How does your business best take advantage of your greatest skills and talents, and how are you utilizing them right now?

6. What business or work success are you most proud of having accomplished? (Current or past)

7. What new business skills have you learned in the past year?

8. What obstacles have you overcome to get where you are today, (both professionally and personally), and what essential lessons have you learned from some of your mistakes?

9. What training/education have you completed and what did you gain from those experiences?

10. What professional organizations are you associated with and in what ways? - member, board member, treasurer, etc.

11. How do you spend your time outside of work, including hobbies, interests, sports, family and volunteer activities?

12. In what way are you making a difference in people's lives?

Take some time to thoughtfully write the answers to these questions and I promise you that you'll experience more authentic conviction when you speak or write about your services.

Authentic conviction isn't something you make up. It's already there in your past and current experiences. Tap into the power of those experiences by writing about them. (Just thinking about them doesn't really work.)