Create executive presence through body language

Some people have what I call executive presence. When a person with authority enters a room, you recognize it immediately.

Leaders have a particular way of carrying themselves. They hold their head high, shoulders back and chest out. They listen to everyone before they speak and usually summarizes the discussion at the end of the meeting.

When they enter a room, they are not afraid to take up space. Leaders usually sit at the center of the conference table. They speak slowly and with a lower tone of voice. 

Leaders hold good eye contact, and by doing so, they establish trust. People feel important around a leader. That is why people are willing to help them more.

Practice active listening

When someone speaks to you, try to listen intensively, not only with your ears but with your whole body. Face yourself towards the person you are talking to. If you meet someone for the first time, it is better to face another person from an angle. Try to mirror the other person subtly to create rapport (being in sync with each other).

Tilt your head a little bit if you want to be less intimidating to the other person. People will see you as more receptive.

Nodding too much is considered to be a submissive display. Other passive shows are touching your face or fiddling with your hair if you are a girl.

Master your emotions

If you want to be serious, you have to master your emotions. People won't take you seriously if you are thrilled, sad, angry, etc. Try to stay in the medium range of your emotional states. However, if you don't express any feelings at all, people will consider you cold or insensitive. Try to adapt to your environment, but always be yourself.

The most potent force in human psychology is to be consistent with the way you see yourself. Train your subconscious mind to believe that you are a strong, confident leader. 

You can do this by saying to yourself every morning when you look yourself in the bathroom mirror:

"I master my emotions," 

"I am the leader", 

"I am confident", 

"Every day, I am getting more reliable, and more durable", etc.

These "I am-statement will eventually become your reality if you say them with passions every day. So that you know, you have to do this over and over again for several months. Otherwise, it won't work.

 

How leaders move.

When the leader moves from one place to another, it is with a firm and confident motion. No sudden moves are displayed, and the body is relaxed and confident. The leader enters or leaves the room last. 

By a simple touch on a neutral zone, i.e., the outside of another person's arm, you can amplify the impact of your message.

Never pad someone on the back or shake someone's hand with the palm of yours facing downwards. Both these gestures are signaling that you are superior to the other person. You want to come across as an equal and that you have the other person's interest first. 

Train your mind to be confident, and your body language will follow.

Politicians are often familiar with body language. However, sometimes you can feel that something is not right. The way you sense it is that they don't come across as authentic. 

There is a connection between your mind and body. For instance, try to display a power posing posture for 10 min (hand behind your head and elbows out on the sides, for example), and I will promise you that you feel more confident. 

Researchers experimented and let a test group jump off a trampoline a few meters up in the air into a swimming pool. Only a few dared to jump. They made another test group jump down into the same pond but with the difference of having the participants stand in a power pose for a while before they jumped. In this case, almost everyone dared to jump.

However, if you only work with your body language, the positive effect that you are after will not last. Your mind has to believe it too. 

That is why you can see people (politicians, managers, or others) trained in body language but still don't come across as trustworthy or authentic.

For example, if you see someone laughing without any wrinkle beside their eyes, you know that it is not a real laugh. 

Train your body language skills regularly.

Your body language has an even more significant impact on others than what you say. That is why it's so important to train yourself in the art of body language. There are also some displays that we do, but we are not aware of it. 

Even though we cannot read each other's minds, we can get pretty close by increasing our awareness of our second language, our body language.

Your ability to influence others will increase, and you will become a better leader, husband, or wife by practicing an applying this nonverbal language that everyone speaks.

Good luck, and keep growing to your potential!