Confidence is read from the pride display: head raised, a small smile, eyes on the viewer (Tracy & Robins 2007). Each part matters: without the smile, a raised head reads as superior and contemptuous (Mignault & Chaudhuri 2003); with the eyes looking up instead of at the viewer, far fewer people recognised pride (Tracy & Robins 2007).
While you speak
- Raise your chin about 15°, anywhere from 10° to 20°. About 15° was recognised as pride better than 30° (Tracy & Robins 2004).
- Add a small smile with your lips closed. A small smile was recognised as pride better than a large one (Tracy & Robins 2004).
- Give your eyes to one person for about 3 seconds, then to another (Binetti et al. 2016).
While you take questions
- Come back to level and to a calm face: nothing raised, widened or drooping. Very anxious people showed raised brows, widened eyes and more blinking (Harrigan & O'Connell 1996).
- Blink without hurry: more blinking read as more nervous (Omori & Miyata 2001).
The voice carries even more: observers read momentary anxiety from the voice more than from the face (Harrigan, Wilson & Rosenthal 2004). How I Land does not coach the voice.
Practise it live
Open How I Land and choose “confident” after “Be seen as”. Your camera shows your face with the look drawn on it, and one instruction at a time tells you what to move. When it fits, hold it for five seconds to remember the position.
Free. Nothing is recorded, stored or sent.