People look confident through open, upright posture, consistent eye contact, firm handshakes, and purposeful, unhurried movements, combined with clear, calm speech and a lack of nervous fidgeting, showing they are present, self-assured, and comfortable in their own skin, often signaled by a subtle smile and positive energy.
If there's one thing you should do to evoke confidence, especially in the office or in high-pressure situations, it's making eye contact when you speak. According to CNBC, eye contact is an important nonverbal social cue because it projects confidence, self-esteem and assertiveness.
They Control Themselves, Not Others
A confident person focuses on their own growth rather than trying to dominate others. They don't let people walk all over them, but they also don't seek to control or manipulate anyone else. Live and let live is their mindset.
And that's where The Five Cs of Confident Leadership comes in -- Communication, Clarity, Connection, Community and Courage.
Five Signs of a Truly Confident Person
Own Your Voice
Speak with clarity, conviction, and purpose. Avoid minimising language like "just," "sorry," or "I think" when you don't need to. Instead of saying, "I just wanted to check if this works," say, "Let's move forward with this approach." When you own your voice, you project confidence and credibility.
Along the way, we'll highlight key factors such as stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, anger, career issues, social isolation, social anxiety, chronic pain, emotional abuse, family problem, low motivation, panic disorder, sleep, workplace, adjustment disorder, body image, burnout, communication disorder, dependence, ...
25 Killer Actions to Boost Your Self-Confidence
4 Types Of Confidence You Need To Excel In Life
8 Habits of a Confident Woman
Assertive Debaters (ENTP-A), Executives (ESTJ-A), and Entrepreneurs (ESTP-A) (all 95%), and Assertive Commanders (ENTJ-A) (98%) are the personality types reporting the highest confidence in their own abilities.
Confident people tend to talk slowly and clearly, because they know that what they have to say is valuable. Slow yourself down, and speak from the chest, projecting your voice so that everyone can hear. Frustratingly, we naturally speak quickly and quietly when we're nervous.
Because you get such a limited window of time to make an impression, confidence helps draw people to you faster. The other reason confidence appears successful: it signifies a “winner”. You don't need to watch a nature documentary to know that confidence tends to intimidate the competition.
If you want to look capable, confident and approachable, walk the same way that you stand - shoulders back and in line with your hips, head up and looking ahead. Let your legs swing from your hips, and place the heel of your foot down first, then roll to the ball of your foot.
Causes of low self-esteem
Poor academic performance in school resulting in a lack of confidence. Ongoing stressful life event such as relationship breakdown or financial trouble. Poor treatment from a partner, parent or carer, for example, being in an abusive relationship.
9 Traits Self-Confident People Have in Common
Creating Confidence with the “3 Cs”
To counter the hopeless and helpless feelings of low self-esteem, Kennedy-Moore offers three keys—the 3 C's—that address children's basic needs for connection, competence, and choice.
According to Bandura (1997), individuals form self-efficacy beliefs by interpreting information regarding their own capabilities. This information stems from four sources: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states.
Constantly overthinking.
One of the worst enemies of confidence, overthinking leads to negativity. It twists things around, makes you worry, and makes everything appear so much worse than it actually is. When you give up overthinking you'll be amazed to see how many problems it caused.
While everyone might display these in their own way, there are a few common low self-esteem symptoms to look out for:
How can I improve my self-esteem?
Think of it like a traffic light system for your conversations. The 3 seconds of listening is your red light - full stop, complete attention. The 2 seconds of processing is your yellow light - prepare and organize your thoughts. The 1 second to respond is your green light - go ahead with confidence!
Be sincere. Don't fake your manner of speech to impress others. Avoid laughing or joke inappropriately. If someone is trying to be serious with you, and you try to be humorous, you will not be considered mature.