Body Language: Change How People See You & Boost Confidence

0:00You've probably heard the saying that 70% of all communication is portrayed through body language. Think about it. Before someone even opens their mouth, we already start assuming what they're like just from the way they carry themselves. That's why in this video, you're going to learn exactly how to portray confident, attractive, and respectable body language. We're going to cover everything from your feet to the expressions on your face and we're going to make sure you have a full understanding of why certain types of body language are good and why certain types are bad. So starting with the feet, you want to make sure that your feet are shoulder-length apart with your toes pointing outward. Why? Well, the rule of them when it comes to body language is that closing off your body is associated with nervousness and fear. Hypothetically, if someone was about to hit you, your instinct would be to close off your body to cover your organs and genitals. Open body language on the other hand is associated with feeling relaxed, calm, and confident. So having your feet apart, toes pointing outwards is open while having them together, pointing inwards is closed. Moving on to your hands. Do not keep your hands in your pocket.

1:03Do not cross them. Do not have one hand holding the arm of the other hand. And if you're at a party, do not hold a drink covering your chest. All of these are forms of closed body language. So what should I be doing with my hands and arms instead? It's best to keep your hands at your sides relaxed, even if you have a drink. If you're speaking with someone, you can use your hands to emphasize certain points. If you were to ask me to adjust one part of the body that would have the biggest influence on how people perceive you, it would have to be the chest. This is actually the area that people have problems with the most. A lot of us have what are called rounded shoulders. Our shoulders arc forward past the neck largely due to our culture which is increasingly dependent on computer usage. The ideal way to hold your chest is to have your chest outwards and your shoulders back like in this image here. For those of you who have a posture problem due to years of computer usage, there are a lot of exercises out there that will help straighten your back and fix your shoulders. Moving on to the head. You should stand straight with your head in line with the rest of your body. Your head should be facing forward.

2:06You don't want to tilt it down as it seems too submissive and you don't want to tilt it up too much as it seems too arrogant. The face is a large part of how people perceive you during interactions. There are two things that you'll want to focus on. The first is eye contact. Chances are if you're watching this video, you're not making enough eye contact, especially if you're a male. Strong eye contact is a huge indicator for confidence. I'm sure you've met people who seem totally normal, but just could not maintain eye contact. This makes the interaction feel very uncomfortable and they come off as very, very uncomfortable. The magic ratio you want to maintain is 80-20. You want to spend 80% of the time during a conversation making eye contact and 20% of the time letting your eyes wander. This way you seem very confident, very interested in what the other person is saying, but at the same time you don't come off as creepy. The second thing you want to focus on is your smile. Do not have one of those giant teeth showing smiles plastered on

3:06your face 24-7 because well it actually seems nervous. These smiles seem forced and fake. Instead it's best to have a subtle grin like you're having a good day. This projects an aura of happiness, but seems genuine and not forced. Now don't get me wrong, it's perfectly okay to smile with your teeth, but save it for those special occasions. Now that we've covered what good body language looks like, let's talk about how you should move your body. The rule of thumb when it comes to movement is slow, slow, slow. The slower you move, the more confident you seem. A lot of us are prone to fast fidgety movements. You know we like to touch our face or play with our hands and this just screams I'm nervous. It makes you look like you're on the edge all of the time. The reason we want to stray away from nervous behavior so much is that emotions get transferred. If you're nervous, the people you're interacting with will feel uncomfortable as well. They feel as if something is wrong and this hinders your overall likeability. Well how slow should we move? Honestly you can move

4:08pretty slow without it looking weird. Just don't move too slow like you're in the matrix. The last concept we're going to talk about is space. This relates a lot to the open and closed body language concept that we spoke about earlier. The more space you take up, the more comfortable and confident you seem. When you're at a desk, spread your belongings, don't be afraid to have some space between your phone and your notebook but don't be that guy who takes up three seats with his book bag and jacket. When you're sitting, don't be afraid to sit with your legs apart. Drape your arms on the chair next to you if it's empty. Do not be afraid to open up your body. And that's it. If you want to be perceived as more confident, look more attractive and gain more respect. You just have to keep in mind these concepts. Stay away from closed body language, move slower, take up more space and increase the amount of eye contact you make. By making these changes, I can 100% guarantee you'll see an improvement in your social interactions, whether

5:08beyond dates, during meetings, at parties or even just hanging out with your friends.