When your body radiates confidence!

Can you really seem confident, even when you don’t feel it? Can you look calm, even when your heart’s racing? Absolutely. Some people can just walk into a room and immediately capture people’s attention. How? By embodying confidence physically and steering their thoughts with precision.

Building confidence from the inside out

Your body’s always talking. It’s a live broadcast of your thoughts. When you feel threatened, you shrink, you fold, you hide. Your brain fires off a message to the body: “Defend yourself.” Negative thoughts creep in, confidence crumbles, and fear takes the wheel.

• You feel a wave of stress before speaking up.
• You dread being judged.
• You worry you’re not good enough.
• You downplay your own worth.
• You overthink and try to control every outcome.

But here’s the flip side: positive thinking, like seeing the opportunity to speak up as more of a curse than a blessing, your mental framework shifts.

• Your gestures are natural, fluid.
• Your body stays open and grounded.
• Your hands move with an easy calm.
• Your voice steadies, deepens, strengthens.
• You’re in full control.

Building confidence from the outside in

Here’s the kicker: your brain and body are in constant dialogue. Thoughts shape posture, and posture shapes thoughts. Stand taller, roll your shoulders back, open your chest. And just like that, your brain rewires on the spot. Neural circuits reset. Confidence kicks in. Your body remembers, repeats, and strengthens.

In her book Presence, Amy Cuddy explores the power of body language helps with career success. When you act confident, even if you don’t quite feel it, your brain will catch up.

Her exercise: stand tall, hands on hips, chin up, shoulders back. Hold it for ten minutes, and by the end, you’ll feel stronger, freer, and in control.

Here’s another one: you can’t stay mad while laughing. Force a smile and your body follows. That’s the principle of laughter yoga: even fake laughter sparks feel-good hormones. Your mood flips, proving that confidence can be built from the outside in.

Here are some quick tips to help you feel more comfortable and confident in public:

• Make eye contact. A steady gaze earns instant trust.
• Face your audience. Stay open, not closed-off.
• Breathe with intention. Cardiac coherence calms stress, deepens sleep, and restores balance (see David O’Hare’s book).
• Kick out the negativity. Stay grounded in the present.
• Put on your favourite playlist. Music shifts your energy.
• Get moving. Exercise is the ultimate stress-killer.

Confidence lives in the body, but echoes in your mind, heart, choices, values. It’s something you build a day at a time. Work on your physical presence, and your headspace will follow. And when it’s time to step up and speak, the moment will be all yours.