Confident Body Language

May 8, 2019 in Confidence

People say it's important you are confident so that you can be successful or confidence is necessary to achieve success. Think about it, you wouldn't want to work with a professional that's not confident.

Today I'll be talking about something dear to my heart and it's what I do for a living. I teach people how to be confident and how to communicate effectively. So in today's video, we're going to talk about strategies to demonstrate confidence even when you don't feel like it. You can watch it or simply read on.

Confidence Is Not How You Feel

Even if you're one of the most confident people on earth, there would be times that you would be before a group of people to present, or you're going for an interview for a job that is important and your confidence takes a hike! That's the time your confidence would decide to take a vacation in Hawaii and leave you in the cold.

Let's get right to it. The first thing to know is that confidence is not really how you feel. Yeah, it's good to feel confident, don't get me wrong. However, when you ask someone or if you are asked to describe a confident person, you wouldn't describe how they feel. You wouldn't say they feel confident. You would probably say they look confident or they sound confident. 

Confidence Is What You Do

What does that tell you? It tells you that confidence is demonstrated in the things that you do, in the actions you take. It also tells you that confidence is received through the five senses and then interpreted as confidence. It's what people see in you that gives them the perception that you're confident. 

How To Demonstrate Confidence

It's through the information people receive through their five senses receive that help them interpret whatever you do as being confident. How you look, how you sound, or how you shake their hand.

So lets it break down using your five senses. It's easier to follow. 

Sense of Sight

What do you see with your eyes? You see how people look before they even say a word. You see them from afar, you see how they walk, you see how they look. Therefore to demonstrate confidence, it's important to look confident and to dress confidently.

What does it mean to dress confidently? It means to be put together. Don't look harassed or disheveled. Look put together because people are trying to get every information they can about you to decide whether to go with you or not go with you.

Every information matters, especially if they're meeting for the first time because they don't know you. They're making an assessment based on what they see.

You want to dress confidently, but your dressing is the lowest in the category of importance. Your body language is more important and facial expressions speak volumes. How is your body language? Your body language is how you carry yourself. Keep your shoulders relaxed and don't look tensed up.

Are you frowning, or are you welcoming with a smile? A smile is a universal language of welcome. So when you meet with people for the first time, smile with them. You're telling them hey, welcome to this experience. If you have a hard face smile more often. If you have a friendly face smile more often. It takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown.

Sense of Hearing

The next thing I want to talk about is how you sound. Don't upspeak. Don't end your statements as questions.

If you have a high pitched voice control your excitement because the more excited you are the more likely your voice pitch rises and it becomes very screechy.

Speak your words one at a time. That's one thing that I have to practice all the time cause I speak fast naturally. I've learned that when I'm with people I need to slow down and enunciate my words so that they get everything that I have to tell them because I have so much to offer that I cannot afford to leave without making an impact.

Sense of Smell

The other thing to think about is how you smell. It's not just a bad odor you want to avoid, avoid any smell that's strong like garlic. When you're meeting with people for the first time or you are going to be in the gathering of people avoid strong odors because strong odors can be a put off. Strong smells could be a garlic smell, the smell of pets, or nicotine. Anything that is strong can be a put-off. So just be conscious about that.

When you are going for interviews. When you're meeting with people for the first time, you don't want anything to make them uncomfortable. You want them to be a hundred percent comfortable when you're with them.

Sense Of Touch

The final thing I am going to talk about is how you shake people's hands. Make sure to give a firm handshake. You don't want to give bone-crushing handshakes neither do you want to give limp handshakes are shaking hands with has a stronger hand strength. You want to match the hand strength. Don't be overpowering or underpowering. 

Oh, and by the way, do not erode people's personal space. It's probably something they don't have an issue with. But if you're someone coming from another culture or you are a feely, touchy person, be very careful. You don't want people feeling uncomfortable when they are around you. So don't erode people's personal space. Remember that! 

Sense Of Taste

What you taste is the last thing and only applicable if your career is in the food or drink industry. Of course, you want your food or your drink to taste wonderful. You would be more confident when you know your food tastes great.

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 It would give you some pointers on what to do to demonstrate confidence. I hope I've been able to help you with this video and to point out a few things that you can do to always look confident whether you feel it or not.

If you're an expert you don't want people misinterpreting your nervousness as being inexperienced or unskilled hence the need to demonstrate confidence.

Thank you for watching the video. Subscribe to my channel,Bold and Ageless professionals where I give tips on how to effectively communicate, how to demonstrate confidence, how to own your space, and how to enjoy being a professional.

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Hello, I'm Oyinkan Akinmade, a Confidence Coach and a Workplace Strategist with a passion for helping individuals achieve their full potential and leaders create great workplaces through confidence, communication, and leadership training. Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn at Oyinkan Akinmade

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