6 Ways To Appear Confident Instantly

Imagine this: you enter a room with a crowd of unfamiliar people. Do you freeze up? Do you feel this sudden urge to just leave?

Confidence is when you feel assured about yourself, knowing that you can face any uncertainty and make it out ok. But for some people, confidence doesn’t come as easily.

Here are 6 ways to appear more confident instantly.

Face your fears head-on

Do you stop yourself from doing a scary, new experience?

Feeling afraid of something dangerous is your mind’s way of protecting you from harming yourself. But your brain can also delude you into feeling fearful over harmless things too, like public speaking. By allowing fear to overcome you, you won’t see how far you can go to fully realize your dream. Confidence doesn’t grow from inaction, but being able to make a move despite the fear.

Embrace failure

Are you hard on yourself when you make a mistake?

Failure is the stepping stone to success. No one ever becomes a master at something before becoming a beginner, and being new at something entails failing at something once, twice, even a hundred times. By failing constantly, you’ll start to learn what works and what doesn’t — giving you more confidence in the decisions you make. If failure stops you from trying, you won’t be able to reach the top of the mountain that others have painstakingly scaled.

Speak with clarity

Do you speak in a low tone? Or maybe you speak too fast?

The way you speak is one way you can make or break how you look in front of others. By bumbling, muttering, or saying sentences that trail off, listeners may not buy into your words, which could even lead to doubt about what you’re trying to convey. To speak with clarity, take the time to say your words slowly and clearly. Practice articulating your words, maybe even listen to yourself through an audio recording to get a feel of how you speak.

Mind your body language

Are you mindful of how you present yourself in conversations?

Your body movements play a big role in how you project confidence, from the way you stand to the positions of your hands. Are your arms crossed? You may come across as disinterested. Is your foot facing the opposite of your speaker? Some would think that you want to leave the conversation right away.

Instead, try to follow some positive, approachable, and assured stances. Examples of this include maintaining appropriate eye contact and mirroring the other person’s body language naturally.

Question your doubt

Have you ever doubted yourself, thinking you weren’t good enough?

Doubt is one way of protecting yourself from feeling the pain of failure, but it also leads to inaction. Doubt can come in the form of limiting beliefs that you have, like “I’m not good enough” or “I keep messing up”.

Catch those feelings when they arise and question why they came up. It may be easy to look at the bad side. But by focusing on the positive consequences, you can trick your mind into believing that doing that scary thing may be approachable after all.

Take a deep breath

During a tense moment, your body may activate your fight, flight, or freeze response. This can cause you to hold your breath or speed it up unknowingly.

When you realize your breathing pattern acting up, do your best to calm yourself down by deeply inhaling and exhaling. Notice your breath— start by inhaling deeply, then move it to your stomach as your diaphragm contracts, then exhale the air that filled your lungs. If you’re alone, you can try breathing exercises to boost your overall mood too. This can help you clear your thoughts and bring them back to the present moment.

Closing Thoughts

We hope that you’ve learned about ways to become more confident. Do you have any suggestions that haven’t been covered? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

That’s all for now Psych2Goers!

References

Giang, V. (June 26, 2019) 7 Ways to Project Confidence With Your Body Language. Retrieved at https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/trends-and-insights/articles/4-ways-your-body-language-can-project-confidence/

Demers, J. (Aug 2015) 7 Ways to Appear Confident (When You’re Really Not). Retrieved at https://www.inc.com/jayson-demers/7-ways-to-appear-confident-when-you-re-really-not.html

Morin, A. June 12, 2020. How to Face Your Fears. Very Well Mind Retrieved at https://www.verywellmind.com/healthy-ways-to-face-your-fears-4165487

GoodTherapy.org Staff (March 18, 2015). 8 Psychological Tips for Being More Confident. Retrieved at https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/8-psychological-tips-for-being-more-confident-0318157