What Are Some Nonverbal Cues That Can Convey Confidence At Work?

Attributes like full control of the space, relaxed body language, a posture that is open, and a strong, authentic presence. To begin feeling that power yourself imagine a lion in the jungle. She establishes her space and territory; she's queen of the jungle. She's relaxed; she moves gracefully. If she met a mouse on her path, it's the mouse that would be tense. Her posture is open; she stretches out her limbs. She'd never have to battle for an armrest on an airplane. She's -authentic; she carries her confidence and stability with her. She's herself.

Take Up Space

Use the arms on the chair, stand with your feet a bit apart (men can do this more easily than women.)  A female leg stance in North America is with the feet typically 4 to 6 inches apart and a male power stance starts with the feet more than 8 inches apart which could make a woman look like a gun slinging cowboy.  

Choose where you sit and stand

For example the new power seat (seating in detail in the book) is the middle of the conference room table.  

Go First

Initiate interactions. Be the first to make eye contact, offer your hand to shake, have an idea or solution, go into a room, and make the call.  You can only afford to wait and go last when you are in the C-suite and ready to retire.  

The handshake

Always put your hand out to shake hands. A classic good handshake is one with full palm to palm contact.

Eyes

Occasionally initiate prolonged, eye contact, three seconds or longer as you initiate interactions.  Says, acts like communicates that you are powerful. The dominant person may alternatively prevent eye contact, saying “You are beneath me and I do not want even to look at you.” Women have to be careful of doing this when they don’t know the gentleman as it may be misconstrued as a sexual come on. (Yes, this is still true today.)  

Speaking

The person who speaks first often gets to control the conversation, either by talking for longer or by managing the questions. You don’t have to be loud to be confident but you may have to be a bit louder to get “the turn” to speak.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Get Powerful!

The first speaker walked confidently onto the stage, his shoulders back, his chest held high, and stood with his feet apart and began gesturing broadly. The second speaker shuffled hesitantly onto the stage and stood with his shoulders slumped, his head bowed his feet together and his hands twined together held below his belt. What do you think of each speaker and what do you think each was feeling?
Powerful body language is telling. In a study of 132 business school graduates that took place over eight years and included extensive interviews, researchers looked at women who showed powerful body language and discovered that women who can turn their body language on and off according to their circumstances (called self- monitoring) get more promotions than men or other women. We know that body language can make people think and feel differently about you, but in her popular TEDTalk Amy Cuddy enthusiastically shares her research results that show that holding a powerful or powerless body language posture for two minutes can change your hormones (raising or lowering testosterone and cortisol), and thus how you feel. The Huffington Post asked me to comment on this TedTalk and let me say for the record, Hallelujah! Some great new research to support what I feel is one of the most remarkable and beneficial aspects of body language awareness. I say in my book, Snap Making the Most of First Impressions Body Language and Charisma, that however you hold yourself, however you move through space, and however you gesture, your body sends messages back to your brain to make you feel that way. So, if you are standing with your shoulders drooping and head bowed, the little pharmacy in your brain creates and sends chemicals into your bloodstream in less than a fortieth of a second to make you feel less powerful. The great news is, if you know what creates powerful body language messages, and integrate that with an awareness of your own body language, you can feel as powerful as you wish to be in a fraction of a second. What can you do to make yourself feel authentically powerful immediately? The four foundation principles of power are confidence, space, openness, and relaxation. So to feel more powerful:
1. Take up space with your body. Notice how far apart your feet are normally and if you don't feel powerful, Stand or with your feet as little as one inch further apart to feel lion like stability and presence. If you are seated you can put your feet further apart or out and use those arm rest. Spread out.
2. Hold and or gesture your hands above your waist, or to feel victorious and euphoric hold them very high up at or above your head. What I call Up posture makes you feel up and confident. So hold your head and body up. We spend far to much time looking down at our smart phones train yourself to look up.
3. Keep what I call your body windows open. Focus on the windows at your feet your pelvis your heart your neck and the palms of your hands. Stand or sit with your limbs unfolded and don't close and block your windows with your stuff, such as your coffee cup or purse smart phone or by touching you face, your neck shirt collar in power reducing self- comfort moves.
4. Relax your body. Tension makes us get small relaxing and breathing make you look and feel powerful.
You have the power change the way you feel in any situation. So put your hands in the air and get powerful.
Ideas are not set in stone. When exposed to thoughtful people, they morph and adapt into their most potent form. TEDWeekends will highlight some of today's most intriguing ideas and allow them to develop in real time through your voice! Tweet #TEDWeekends to share your perspective or email tedweekends@huffingtonpost.com to learn about future weekend's ideas to contribute as a writer.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patti-wood/positive-body-language_b_2459454.html

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Get Powerfu! Change your body language to change your life.

By Patti Wood, MA, CSP body language expert and Author of Snap –Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma.

The first speaker walked confidently onto the stage with his shoulders back, his chest held high and stood with his feet apart and began gesturing broadly. The second speaker shuffled hesitantly onto the stage and stood with his shoulders slumped, his head bowed, his feet together and his hands twined together held below his belt. What do you think of each speaker and what do you think each was feeling?  Powerful body language is telling.  In a study of 132 business school graduates that took place over eight years and included extensive interviews, researches looked at women who showed powerful body language and discovered that  women  who can turn their powerful on and off according to their circumstances, (called self- monitoring) get more promotions than men or other women. We know that body language can make people think and feel differently about you but in her popular TED talk Amy Cuddy enthusiastically shares her research results that show that holding a powerful or powerless body language posture for two minutes can to change your hormones, (raising or lowering testosterone and cortisol) and thus how you feel.  Halleluiah, some great new research to support what I feel is one of the most remarkable and beneficial aspects of body language awareness. I say in my book Snap Making the Most of First Impressions Body Language and Charisma that however you hold yourself, however you move through space, and however you gesture, your body sends messages back to your brain to make you feel that way. So, if you are standing with your shoulders drooping and head bowed, the little pharmacy in your brain creates, and sends, chemicals into your bloodstream in less than a fortieth of a second - to make you feel less powerful. The great news is, if you know what creates powerful body language messages, and integrate that with an awareness of your own body language, you can feel as powerful as you wish to be in a fraction of a second.  What can you do to make yourself feel authentically powerful immediately? The four foundation principles of power are confidence, space, openness, and relaxation. 

So to feel more powerful:

1)      Take up space with your body. Notice how far apart your feet are normally and if you don’t feel powerful, stand or with your feet as little as one inch further apart to feel lion like stability and presence. If you are seated you can put your feet further apart or out and use those arm rests. Spread out.

2)      Hold and or gesture your hands above your waist, or to feel victorious and euphoric hold them very high up at or above your head. What I call Up posture makes you feel up and confident. So hold your head and body up. We spend far too much time looking down at our smart phones.  Train yourself to look up.

3)      Keep what I call your body windows open. Focus on the windows at your feet your pelvis your heart your neck and the palms of your hands. Stand or sit with your limbs unfolded and don’t close and block your windows with your stuff, such as your coffee cup or purse smart phone or by touching you face, your neck shirt collar in power reducing self- comfort moves.

4)      Relax your body. Tension makes us get small relaxing and breathing make you look and feel powerful.

You have the power to change the way you feel in any situation. So put your hands in the air and get powerful!

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.

Body Language of Leadership

So excited to see what the new MIT research will show it the best body language for leadership.

http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-03-11/reading-the-body-language-of-leadership

Body language cues to make you look powerful in an interview or meeting.

Today I was coaching a client for a job interview and we worked on 4 body language behaviors she used to look powerful and confident.

1. Stay standing, or sit in the firmest seat or sit in readiness for action as you wait, if the waiting room seats make you look slouched or are awkward get out of the seat.

 

1. Put your hand out first. In fact, when you see the interviewer turn towards then immediately and as you step forward raise your arm immediately as you step forward. This makes you look confident and insures you make significant eye contact rather than look down at your feet as you move forward.

 

1. The next body language tip for looking powerful in an interview or meeting is to make significant eye contact before you sit down and again just as you sit down. This is very important for women, who tend to be distracted by their “stuff” and take a subordinate position and wait to make eye contact till after they are settled in and have arranged their purse, their coffee cup, their paper, their jacket, etc.

4. Take up space as you sit down. The easiest way to do this is to have a leather bound case for your pad that you can open up so that your table top “foot” print is broad. The leather looks impressive and communicates status. It also keeps you from looking like a lower level person or secretary if you take notes.

Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.