How do some people appear confident while others seem unsure or uneasy in some ways? If you can get others to think you are confident then they may well trust and believe you more easily. In contrast, if you appear uncertain how can they accept what you say as being true? People read your body language, often via instinct and without thinking. It’s because our poses and postures are a great source of information. They reflect our mood and our confidence level. We stand and walk a certain way when we’re confident and another way when we’re nervous. In a glance, most people can discern if we’re apprehensive or outgoing, relaxed or aggressive. With a little practice, we can learn the tips to show confidence through body language so that we always appear confident, capable and ready.
People read your body language, often via instinct and without thinking. It’s because our poses and gestures are a great source of information. They reflect our mood and our confidence level. We stand and walk a certain way when we are confident and another way when we are nervous. In a glance, most people can spot if we are apprehensive or outgoing, relaxed or aggressive. With a little practice, we can learn the tips to show confidence through body language so that we always appear confident, capable and ready.
- Hands out of your pockets: We put our hands in our pockets when we are uncomfortable or uncertain of ourselves. And as long as you have your hands stuffed down your pants, that’s how other people will view you. Unconsciously we tend to hide our hands when we are nervous; keeping your hands out in the open indicates confidence and shows people you have nothing to hide.
- Don’t fidget: Fidgeting is a clear sign of nervousness. An individual who can’t keep still is a person who is worried, tense and certainly not confident. Your hands can be your worst enemies; fight to keep them still and steady. You can definitely talk with your hands but keep your gestures calm and under control. Also, when seated, avoid that rapid leg-vibration thing that some of you do.
- Keep your eyes forward: Keeping your eyes level might be one of the complex ways to show confidence in body language. When you are walking anywhere by yourself, it often feels natural to lower your head slightly and watch your step, but this posture communicates to others that you don’t want to engage in conversation or interact. And if you are not careful, you might develop the habit of doing it all the time. Keep your chin up and your eyes forward, even when you are walking all by yourself.
- Stand up straight with your shoulders back: Standing up straight is one of the most important tips to project confidence through body language. It can be a challenge especially if you have been a sloucher all your life but get over it. Standing up straight is perhaps the most important means of communicating confidence. Concentrate on pushing your shoulders back slightly when standing and walking.
- Take wide steps: A confident individual will never be described as “scurrying,” “creeping” or “sneaking,” so pay attention to the way you walk. If you want to show confidence with body language you want to take large steps. Wide steps make you seem purposeful and suggest a personal tranquillity, which denotes confidence in a person.
- Firm handshakes: Another top tip for showing confidence with body language has to do with the firm handshake. There are few things worse than reaching out your hand during an introduction and getting a palm full of dead fish. Don’t be that fellow. Instead, grip the other person’s hand firmly and confidently. Also, don’t try to crush the other person’s hand and don’t hold on too long.
- Proper grooming: Grooming is an essential component of communicating confidence through body language. You want your hair, face and even your smell to work for you, not against you.
- Smile: Confident people smile because they have nothing to worry about.
- Don’t cross your arms when socializing: Crossing your arms is a protective posture. We do it when we are cold, nervous or on guard. Think of those big, burly nightclub bouncers, crossing their 26-inch pythons while standing guard at the door to a club. Do they look like guys you want to talk to, joke with or work with? No, right? Their job is to look intimidating. Your job is to look likeable, open, and confident. So relax a little and keep your arms uncrossed.
At root, confidence is a lack (or effective control) of fear. A confident person does not feel threatened by others, as many of us do. This can lead to false confidence when there is a real threat, which is why an effectively confident person has a realistic threat assessment and may well have a contingency ready so they know they can cope with dangers as they appear.
There is a fine line between others interpreting your body language as being a sign of confidence or arrogance, so care is needed here. A quietly confident person is liked and admired. An arrogant person, on the other hand, is disliked and despised. The difference is that the arrogant person uses confidence to gain status as they feel (or want to feel) superior to others. The quietly confident person, on the other hand, feels equal to others.
