Lesson 1 Criteria for Success

Why? Moving around the stage is a great way of showing your audience you are confident in what you're saying and including everyone in the conversation. Commanding the space around you shows strong leadership and, after all, when you're presenting you are the leader.
When you have confident body language, you'll be more dynamic and interesting to listen to and your audience will not only be more engaged but they will have more trust in your message too.
How:

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  Don't pace around the stage every 30 seconds - this is distracting to your audience. Wait at least 3 minutes before moving to another area of the stage.
  
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  Time your movement on stage with a change in topic - this is a way of physically marking the transition.
  
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  Move towards the audience when asking questions or making an important point.
  
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  When you're walking to another side of the stage, try to avoid turning your back to any areas of the audience as this disconnects them and can come across as rude.
  
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  Avoid swaying or rocking on the spot - either walk to another area of the stage or don't move your entire body at all.
  

Watch 3 examples of positive and negative body language while giving a speech

5. Expressions

Why? People depend on facial expressions to interpret motives and emotions so an audience will respond better to you if you are expressive. This is a bit like acting - you want to emphasize your expressions so that everyone in the audience can interpret meaning from them.
You could film yourself speaking and identify artificial or unfriendly facial expressions you make when telling a story and replace them with more genuine, believable expressions. Try to practice speaking with your face to show happiness, sadness, anger, and surprise. Your face should reflect the emotions within your stories.
How:

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  When trying to show shock or confusion, raise your eyebrows.
  
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  If you're conveying anger or concern, frown.
  
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  When you're happy in your story, simply smile.
  
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  For sad moments, frown a little and slightly tilt the sides of your lips downwards.
  

6. Mannerisms

Why? Mannerisms are the nervous habits most people have that detract from your message and can make the audience feel uncomfortable. They are key to confident body language. Common habits you have that you might not be aware of are fiddling with your hair or suit, putting your hands in your pockets, and excessively using filler words such as 'um,' 'so' and 'like'.
How:

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  To break these habits, film yourself speaking and become aware of them.
  
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  You could ask a trusted friend to tell you if you have any.
  
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  Once you've acknowledged your nervous habits, work in your everyday conversation to break them. If you can break them on a small scale, you'll likely find they disappear in front of larger audiences too.
  

7. Breathing

Why? Even though your audience can't see your breath, it is a significant factor in portraying confident body language. Maintaining a slow, steady breath can reduce your stress levels and make you less likely to revert to nervous habits, bad posture and excessive movement. Relaxed and deep breaths also ensure that you're speaking at the right pace and your voice can project across the room, which in itself will make you feel and sound more confident.
How:

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  Before you present or speak in public, do some breathing exercises to warm up your voice and fill your lungs. Slowly inhale for 3 seconds, and exhale for 4 seconds. Repeat this as often as you need to, in order to feel calm.
  
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  Always make sure you're standing up straight so that your lungs can expand fully.
  

To maximise your breath, and thus your voice and consequently your influence, you should aim to fill your lungs all the way down. Image from RADA Effective Communication.

8. Voice

Why? Your vocal expression is physical and so your body language has an effect on your voice and can enhance or detract from the message of your speech.
Albert Mehrabian wrote extensively on the relative importance of verbal and non-verbal messages and his findings have been quoted for years as the '7-38-55 Rule'.

Importance of verbal and non-verbal communication:

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  7% - words
  
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  38% - tone
  
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  55% - body language
  

When you combine these 3 elements, your audience will be more engaged and connected with you. So don't forget that your body language should always enhance your voice and emphasize your message.
How:

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  Imagine you have a string on the crown of your head that is being gently pulled. This will help elongate your spine, maximise your rib cage and allow more air to inflate your lungs and support your vocal expression.
  
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  Watch videos of good and bad speeches to see how their words are in tune with their body language, or how they are not.
  
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  Practice varying your pitch. You can do this with the VirtualSpeech app that you gain access to when purchasing the Essential Public Speaking course.
  

Most of our body language and movement is subconscious so it can be difficult to retrain ourselves away from habits we've had for years. However, to master the art of public speaking you must also master your body's language too.
Of course, you don't want to distract yourself from your speech by consciously thinking how you are standing, where you are looking, and if you're breathing correctly.
So, as with any other skill, regular practice is the secret to success and the quickest route to confident body language. You could practice the techniques above in your day-to-day life so that they become deep-rooted habits and then you won't have to consciously think about doing them when you're on stage.