By working through the initial discomfort of a confrontation, you begin building skills, confidence, and self-awareness. Practice your message. Role play the conversation ahead of time to anticipate reactions and note your style of communication. Anxiety cannot co-exist with assertiveness. Breathe deeply if you are nervous during a confrontation in order to restore control.
Breathing tends to naturally shift to a shallow and rapid quality when one is nervous.
Focusing on deep breathing may help maintain emotional and physical control as you share your thoughts. Attend to your body language. Pay attention to your tone of voice, physical appearance, facial expression, eye contact, and physical gestures as you speak. These non-verbal aspects impact one s ability to hear the message. One could perceive the same message in an aggressive, assertive, or passive manner based on the various non-verbal factors.