6 Body Language Tips for Public Speaking to Make You Sound Super Confident

“If you can speak, you can influence. If you can influence, you can change lives”

(Rob Brown, motivational business speaker)

We all know that the ability to present our ideas and ourselves in the best way can make the difference in our professional career.

Sooner or later, we all have to face the presentation of a project, a public speech or a videoconference and, whether you are a beginner or a veteran, there is always something you can do to hone your communication skills.

In this article, we aimed to reveal you the secrets of the experts that will help you reduce anxiety and improve your public speaking skills with body language.

MISTAKES TO AVOID:

Eye dart

Effective eye contact is probably the most important non-verbal skill during communication. Nonetheless, from beginners to veterans, most of the public speakers fail to maintain sustained eye contact with their listeners. What can it mean? Your audience should perceive it as a lack of sincerity, interest, security, and you could appear arrogant and detached.We know that probably it is just shyness or embarrassment, but remember that you know exactly what you are talking about; you handle the topic better than your audience, so try to maintain eye contact for at least three seconds per person, gazing out the entire perimeter of the room.

Put your hands in the pockets

Many speakers put their hands in their pockets, fiddling with keys or putting the thumbs into the belt loops. Maybe some of you may think that is a good solution, because you avoid gesticulating, but actually is not advisable, since you are drawing attention to the wrong part of your body. You should try to stay relaxed and have natural and spontaneous gestures, since they supplement what you are saying.

Stand perfectly still or move from side to side​

“In medio stat virtus” (Virtue stands in the middle) is a Latin expression that perfectly conveys the idea. In fact, on one side, an audience can lose interest in a speaker who doesn’t move; on the other, moving continuously can be annoying. Therefore, body movement is very important and should be slow and planned to command attention, since is a good way to communicate confidence.

WINNING TIPS:

Move in the right way

As we told before, a good speaker must be able to develop great body language techniques, in order to capture the attention and be remembered. That means using your body moving around the stage with purpose, making eye contact and having great posture. If you are able to combine a correct body language with a charming vocal impression, you will make your message memorable!

Use your space and time

The way you use the space and the time you have say something about your self-confidence. Using little space and speaking quickly is not very convincing; using more space and speaking slowly is much better. Public speakers remember: the stage is your world! Show your listeners they can have confidence in you by commanding the space around you.

Power Poses before public speaking 

Finally, it is known that assuming some powerful poses (like the “superhero position“) before an important conference or speech can strengthen our self-confidence, since helps you feel able to control the situation and experience less stress. Moreover, it can be very useful doing a session of 10 minutes of autogenic training, which fosters a state of relaxation.

Tell us your experience!

Got any good tips you found useful and want to share with us? Let us know by leaving a reply below