Stoic Social Confidence: Speak Up With Less Self-Doubt

Worried about what to say or how other people will judge you? Practise joining conversations without waiting for anxiety to disappear.

Jon Brooks knows social anxiety from the inside. In ten audio lessons with Eric Brown, he explores how to question fearful predictions and take small social steps while allowing some discomfort to be there. These are edited teaching conversations, with a short reflection and an everyday exercise for each lesson.

Start by noticing the judgement that makes a conversation feel like a test. Then practise examining your first impression, choosing a manageable next step and warming up through low-pressure contact. Later lessons explore speaking more honestly and bringing your attention back to the person in front of you. The final lesson helps you put the practices into daily life.

Lessons last around 3–12 minutes. Listen to one at a time and try its exercise before moving on. After completing the course, return to “Make Confidence A Daily Practice” over the next 30 days, using it to choose one small social action each day. Work at a pace you can manage.

This course features Jon Brooks and Eric Brown. Eric appears with permission, and Jon confirms the rights to use the recorded video and audio in this course.

This course is educational and is not therapy or a substitute for professional mental-health care.