From: http://www.bizjournals.com/

Probably one of the most attractive and influential attributes of communicators is their personal confidence.

Sometimes it’s quiet and understated. Other times, confidence is more palpable — it’s bigger and bolder, and seems to fill a room.

But no matter what form it takes, it seems those who possess this secret sauce find their ideas have greater velocity and get more traction.

But what about those who don’t come across as very confident? If we’re honest, most of us would say that it’s just plain hard to watch them struggle in front of a room, and we rarely hear their words.

Nowhere is the need for this attribute more needed than when our coaches are preparing organizational leaders to deliver an important presentation. And if we only have a short period of time, we focus on these two simple skills to convey confidence.

• Keep your eyes up and engaged with the audience in conversational interaction.
• Work on larger and more confident gestures with a relaxed, neutral position. (No wringing hands)

But does it really make them more confident? Maybe more so than we ever understood.

In October 2012, social scientist Amy Cuddy riveted a TED Talks audience with some research her team had conducted around confidence. There appeared to be a clear correlation between perceived confidence and increased testosterone levels and low perceived confidence and increases in one’s cortisol (stress hormone) levels.
But what came first, the confidence or the body chemistry? To find the answer, here’s what they did.

• They split study participants into two groups. In one room, they had them strike a power pose (think Wonder Woman) for five minutes. In a second room, they had them hold a low-power pose (collapsed body posture) for the same time. Then they observed them in a study environment.
• The high-power posers demonstrated more confidence and had elevated testosterone levels. The low- power posers appeared lower in confidence and had elevated cortisol levels.

It would seem that the physical act of practicing strong vs. weak body language actually impacted a person’s chemistry and ultimately their confidence level.