On Cue with Kafui DEY: Believe more

Before Ghana’s World Cup clash against England, many Black Stars supporters had already prepared themselves emotionally for disaster. The predictions were plentiful. The concerns were genuine. The confidence levels were somewhere between “let’s hope for the best” and “where did I leave my calculator?”

To be fair, England arrived with a squad full of stars, a celebrated coach and enough media attention to power a small country. Many Ghanaian fans expected a footballing storm. Then something interesting happened. The game was played. And Ghana earned a hard-fought goalless draw.

What struck me afterwards was the contrast between the expectations of many fans and the comments coming from the England camp. Listening to players and coach Thomas Tuchel before and after the match, I got the distinct impression that England knew they were facing a worthy opponent.

The English media may have had one narrative. The English team appeared to have another. At one point, even Jude Bellingham said that his Superior Player of the Match award should easily have gone to one of the Ghanaian players. Imagine that. The people on the pitch seemed more convinced of Ghana’s quality than many people in the stands.

To my admittedly untrained eye as a football fan, the Black Stars appeared to follow coach Carlos Queiroz’s game plan with impressive discipline. Perhaps we should not have been so surprised. History offered clues. Had we studied it more carefully, we might have remembered that Ghana has never lost a second group-stage match at the World Cup.

The result was not an accident. It was consistent with a pattern. And that brings me to one of the most common problems in public speaking: Imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome occurs when capable people convince themselves they are less qualified than they really are. It is the psychological equivalent of showing up for a match already convinced you cannot compete. The evidence may say one thing. Your inner voice says another. Unfortunately, the inner voice is often louder.

You see it everywhere. A manager is asked to speak at a conference and immediately thinks:

“Why would anyone want to hear from me?”

An entrepreneur is invited onto a panel and wonders:

“Surely they invited the wrong person.”

A professional with twenty years of experience sits quietly during a discussion while someone with two years of experience confidently explains everything. The irony is remarkable. The least qualified person in the room is often the most confident. The most qualified person is busy doubting themselves.

Imposter syndrome is a master of selective memory. It helps you remember every mistake. Every awkward presentation. Every failed interview. Every embarrassing moment. What it conveniently forgets are your achievements. Your experience. Your successes. Your expertise. In football terms, it is like remembering every missed penalty while forgetting all the goals you scored.

One of the best ways to combat imposter syndrome is creating what I call an expertise inventory. Take a piece of paper and write down everything you know. Your experience. Your qualifications. Your projects. Your achievements. Your lessons learned. Your mistakes survived. Many people are shocked by how long the list becomes. The problem was never a lack of expertise. The problem was forgetting it existed.

A second technique is teaching one concept every day. Nothing builds confidence faster than helping another person understand something. Explain a concept to a colleague. Teach a skill to a junior employee. Share an insight online. The more you teach, the more evidence you accumulate that you actually know what you are talking about. And evidence is a powerful antidote to self-doubt.

The third technique is maintaining a success journal. Most people already keep a mental failure journal. It updates automatically. Every mistake is carefully archived. Every embarrassment receives permanent storage. Meanwhile, successes disappear within hours. Reverse the process. Record positive feedback. Successful presentations. Completed projects. Compliments from clients. Achievements large and small.

When self-doubt appears, and it will, you now have documented evidence that your inner critic is not always a reliable witness. The truth is that most people waiting to speak are far more qualified than they think. They simply spend too much time comparing their behind-the-scenes reality with everyone else’s highlight reel.

The Black Stars did not walk onto the field against England believing they were inferior. They respected their opponents. They followed the plan. And they trusted their preparation.

Public speakers should do the same. Because confidence is not believing you are the best person in the room. Confidence is believing you belong in the room. And sometimes the biggest challenge is convincing yourself of what everyone else can already see.

Stay on cue.

Kafui Dey is a media and communications trainer. Email him at [email protected]

Credit:GFA

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