Let Your Body Reinforce Your Message

It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it. Many of us immediately think of the tone or volume of our voices. But your body language can have a major impact on how you’re delivering your message too. There are many aspects of body language. Some we can practice and control, and some are just natural tendencies that we simply need to watch out for. Either way, if we harness them at the right time, in the right way, they’ll make our speaking and presenting to others that much more effective. 

Take a Stand 

As they say, confidence is key. It will help you sell any message and it will make it appear you are in control of the room and your presentation (even if you don’t always feel that way). We have all sat through those meetings and presentations, when the person might have the floor, but they certainly don’t own it. They lack confidence and control, and their presentation suffers as a result. These presentations are never fun to watch, as they are usually hard to engage in and less than inspiring. Sometimes, something as simple as changing your stance, moving your feet to be shoulder width apart, will help you feel more confident, and help the audience see you are in control of the presentation. Remember, body language really does involve your whole body, not just your hands. Take a stand, and own the room. It is important to note, that a wide, confident stance, might not have the same effect in one-on-one conversations. If used with a smaller audience, a wide stance might be too aggressive. In these instances, look for confidence with straight posture, but not a large stance. 

The Magic Box
Being trustworthy and truthful is always helpful in presentations or conversations, however, sometimes depending on the subject, it is absolutely necessary. If you need buy-in, if you need to bring a group of people along with you and get them on board with what you are saying, you want to be trusted and have people believe you are telling the truth. Body language research tells us, big wide gestures can have an adverse effect on your presentations by making you seem a bit sporadic and untrustworthy to your audience. To solve this problem, draw an imaginary box from your waist, up your arms, and across your shoulders. When you present keep your motions and movements within this box. If you are used to bigger movements, this might feel a bit unnatural at first, but as with anything, practice makes perfect. Thankfully, the box concept is equally helpful in one-on-one conversations as well. In larger presentations and in smaller conversations, this box will say trustworthy and truthful to your audience.

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