10 books to build confidence and help you sell yourself in business

With the following recommended books, you'll soon swot up on your confidence and ensure you waltz into that next business meeting without a bit of self-doubt.

1. Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway: How to Turn Your Fear and Indecision into Confidence and Action by Susan Jeffers

What are you afraid of? Public speaking; asserting yourself; making decisions; failure or believing in yourself? Internationally renowned author Susan Jeffers has helped millions of people overcome their fears and heal the pain in their lives with her simple but profound advice. Whatever your anxieties, Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway will give you the insight and tools to improve your ability to handle any given situation. You will learn to live your life the way you want – so you can move from a place of pain, paralysis, depression and indecision to one of power, energy, enthusiasm and action.

2. Step Up: Confidence, Success and Your Stellar Career in 10 Minutes a Day by Phanella Mayall Fine

Step Up is the ultimate career self-help book for women (and men). It blends kick-up-the-bum advice with 10-minute a day career workouts to help you build career success fast. Perhaps it’s networking? Or, maybe it’s learning how to utilise the influence of others? Read, rehearse and watch your career take off.

3. Overcoming Low Self-Esteem, 2nd Edition: A Self-Help Guide Using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques by Dr Melanie Fennell

Melanie Fennell's acclaimed and bestselling self-help guide will help you to understand your low self-esteem and break out of the vicious circle of distress, unhelpful behaviour and self-destructive thinking. Using practical techniques from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), this book will help you learn the art of self-acceptance and so transform your sense of yourself for the better.

4. How to Develop Self-confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie

Drawing on Dale Carnegie's years of experience as a business trainer, this book will show you how to overcome the natural fear of public speaking, to become a successful speaker and even learn to enjoy it. If you found his other bestselling title valuable (How to Win Friends and Influence People), then this book is a must.

5. Ultimate Confidence: The Secrets to Feeling Great About Yourself Every Day by Marisa Peer

There's so much more to confidence than being outgoing, and self-esteem has a massive impact on both your happiness and what you can achieve in life. Marisa Peer's tried and tested programme is an effortless way to maximise your potential and overhaul your whole outlook on life for the better.

6. Black Box Thinking: Marginal Gains and the Secrets of High Performance by Matthew Syed

Black Box Thinking is a new approach to high performance, a means of finding an edge in a complex and fast-changing world. Drawing on a dizzying array of case studies, real-world examples, and cutting-edge research on marginal gains, creativity and grit, Matthew Syed tells the inside story of how success happens – and how we cannot grow unless we are prepared to learn from our mistakes.

7. Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential by Carol Dweck

World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea – the power of our mindset. Dweck explains why it's not just our abilities and talent that bring us success-but whether we approach them with a fixed or growth mindset. She makes clear why praising intelligence and ability doesn't foster self-esteem and lead to accomplishment, but may jeopardise success. With the right mindset, we can reach our own goals –personally and professionally.

8. The Little Book Of Confidence by Susan Jeffers

Susan Jeffers, internationally renowned author, workshop leader and media personality offer practical advice and thought-provoking tips on how to transform your fears into confidence. A must-read if you want to succeed in public speaking, asserting yourself, relationships and decision-making.

9. The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance – What Women Should Know by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman

Following the success of Lean In and Why Women Should Rule the World, the authors of the bestselling Womenomics provide an informative and practical guide to understanding the importance of confidence—and learning how to achieve it—for women (and men) of all ages and at all stages of their career.

10. Overcoming Social Anxiety & Shyness by Gillian Butler

Everyone sometimes feels foolish, embarrassed, judged or criticised, but this becomes a problem when it undermines their confidence and prevents them from doing what they want to do. This easy-to-use guide, full of real-life examples, is for those who suffer from all degrees of social anxiety and shyness and sets out practical methods of resolving it.