In reply to b-mouse:
To add to what Otis has said about supplementing your experience outside of a course: If you are regularly seconding and cleaning gear as you move, spend some time not only removing gear but also replacing it to achieve the placement your leader found (sometimes it won't go in easily the way it came out)and experiment with doing it from the positions that they may have placed it from rather than getting to the most comfortable spot for whipping it out. I found my mates teaching me like that to be really valuable.
The next step they had me on my crash course was to have me lead short lace ups (some of which I seconded first) and then have a good shake of the rope and mock me for everything that fell out
. Throwing every bit of gear you can into short pitches means you will find yourself not only using the most obvious and simple placements but the ones that may take a bit of thinking too (without them having already been worn into a particular size wire or cam on the heavy traffic routes). If you can do this at a single pitch venue with two friends then you can have one at the top for helping you with belay setup pointers. In terms of building confidence you can probably find some short crack where you always have stonking gear above you as you play.
Over the years I've found myself doing similar for friends that have started leading and it seems to work out well in terms of how quickly you can pick up the required skills.