confidence and knowledge

I always told my students, if you don't know the answer ... still answer with confidence. If you are right people will think that you know what you are doing for sure, if you are wrong people will brush it off as simply a mistake. Unless you are wrong all the time .... people begin to catch on after a while.

If you are completely 100% correct but appear nervous and uncertain, people will often not believe you. When you are proven correct they will believe it was "luck."

This article has some interesting comments about the subject.

"This would be fine if confidence and knowledge go hand in hand, but in fact there is almost an inverse relationship."

Read more: Knoco stories: The illusion of confidence in KM http://www.nickmilton.com/2010/07/illusion-of-confidence-in-km.html#ixzz0va58jgTr