Lesson 1 Criteria for Success

Lesson 5

8 Elements of Confident Body Language

If you want to find the truth, do not listen to the words coming to you. Rather see the body language of the speaker. It speaks the facts not audible. - Bhavesh Chhatbar
When you speak, you don't just speak with what you actually say, you also speak with your body language. From your facial expressions, to your posture and eye contact, they all add up to the 'truth' behind what you are saying. If you're feeling nervous, your body could be giving a different message to your audience than the one you're saying.
Body language is an essential part of public speaking success. Your non-verbal cues will impact on the way your message is received, how engaged your audience is, and what they think of you as an individual. Even if you've prepared the best speech in the world, if you aren't animated, open or active then your audience won't know what you've said.

Working on your body language can make a big difference to how you come across to your audience, and how you feel about public speaking in general. We've put together 8 of the most important elements of your body language that will shape how successful your speech is, explaining why they're important and how you can use them to your advantage.

• 
  Body Language: Online Course with Examples and Practice
  
• 
  1. Power pose
  

Why? In 2011, US social psychologists Amy Cuddy, Dana Carney and Andy Yap proposed that holding a 'power pose' resulted in people actually feeling more powerful.
Their theory suggests that an open pose can raise testosterone levels and lower your cortisol levels - ie. increase your dominance and lower your stress. If you have confident body language and pretend you feel powerful, you're more likely to actually feel it! And, who doesn't want to feel powerful on stage?
How:

• 
  Stand straight with your shoulders back and feet shoulder width apart.
  
• 
  Imagine your shoulders opening up from one another so that they rest centrally.
  
• 
  Place your hands either side of your body so that you can easily make hand gestures when you need to.
  
• 
  Face the audience as much as possible. If you're in a large room, tilt your whole body towards different parts of the audience so everyone feels included.
  

Amy Cuddy demonstrates a power pose — spreading your arms wide to appear more powerful. Image from TED.