The first thing to do is to go back and read chapters 1 thru 3. Vision and passion once again come in up top here because they are what will help you to come across as someone who truly believes in what you’re saying.

As soon as you believe in what you're saying, this will come across in the way you do everything. It will show in your expression, it will show in the content of what you are saying, and it will show in the way you move about upfront and gesticulate.

Those gesticulations are important too. This is the way that you move your hands and your body as you speak and when you do it right, it can make a massive difference to how charming and convincing you seem. The most charismatic people in the world all get this right. When you can move your hands around and use big body language, you take up more space which makes people more interested and engaged with what you’re saying. But you also demonstrate more conviction and congruence. This is the opposite of coming across like the shrinking wallflower who is perhaps embarrassed or shy of what they’re saying.

The next thing you can do to demonstrate more confidence in what you’re saying. Slow down! Showing confidence is very important because as mentioned – you are a barometer for the mood of your team. If you panic, then so too will everyone else. If you look confident, then people will have faith in what you’re saying because you have that faith.

Slowing down will instantly help you to come across as more confident because we naturally speak quicker when we’re nervous. What’s more, is that slowing down will make what you’re saying easier to follow, it will give you time to think of your next statement and it will make you appear objectively more intelligent. It even makes your voice sound deeper and helps it to project better.

There’s something else subtle that is going on here too and that’s that speaking too quickly can make you appear like you’re trying to get everything out quickly because you’re not sure people are going to want to listen for long. If you speak very fast, it might seem as though you’re trying to get it all out before you get cut off. This is especially evident when it comes to telling stories: someone very confident who is a natural storyteller will start by gradually setting the scene and creating the context for their story. They will pause for dramatic effect, and they will build-up to the big reveals and punch lines. Think back to the people who have held court at parties you've been to – they all will have used this effect.

Or instead, try watching the videos of YouTuber Elliot Hulse. He will often start with some kind of question or statement and then leave a deliberate pause – with a gaze that appears to look through the camera – before following that statement up. This is powerful stuff and you’ll

find that slowing down like this and introducing silences is nerve-wracking at first. That's exactly why it takes confidence and precisely how it will make you appear more confident if you start employing it as a technique.