Lawyer Monthly - Women In Law Special Edition

LAWYER MONTHLY WOMEN IN LAW EDITION 88 POSTURE Posture is the first thing people see and gives everyone around you an insight into how you’re feeling, whether you’re standing, walking around, or even sitting at your desk. In order to project confidence, ensure that you are holding yourself upright and expand your chest and shoulders for “high-power” poses. HEAD POSITION Head position can give away both negative and positive emotions. To show confidence keep your chin up and hold your head horizontally level or raise it slightly upward. A tip is to pretend that there is a string holding the crown of the head up. This posture portrays that you are both confident, open and relaxed. On the flip side, those lacking confidence will often stoop their posture and lower their head. EYE CONTACT Eye contact might be one of the trickiest ways to show confidence through body language, however, eye contact is a crucial indicator of confidence. Confident people have no problem looking at someone in the eyes when they’re speaking, and they tend to hold their gaze much more when they’re listening. Keeping eye contact communicates that you are happy to keep conversation and interact, so it’s important to get into the habit of doing this. STANCE AND WALK Standing up straight with your shoulders back and a slightly wider gait shows that you aren’t afraid to stride through life. This is possibly the most important means of projecting confidence, so concentrate on standing up straight and walking with your head held high - you will be surprised how much more confident this makes you look. BREATHING Try to focus having smoother breathing especially when dealing with a nerve-wracking situation at work. Take long breaths that fill your lungs with air, which makes sense, as the more oxygen you get to your brain, the better and calmer you feel. It’s no surprise that confidence is increasingly important to stand out in today’s competitive market place. However, confidence isn’t something you’re necessarily born with, it’s a trait that is built over time and the first step to building confidence is understanding how to show it. But wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could boost your confidence in your skills, abilities and activities in the workplace? Confident individuals are more likely to be offered further opportunities. Grosvenor Casinos have teamed up with the UK’s leading body language expert Robert Phipps to reveal the signs to show you are seen as confident at work through body language. HOW TO PORTRAY CONFIDENCE AT WORK WITH BODY LANGUAGE 5 SIGNS THAT SHOW CONFIDENCE