10 Positive Body Language Techniques to Help You Excel

Do you know that body language is a crucial part of communication? Do you also know that it conveys our true feelings and enhances the essence of our message? Yes! People express and convey emotions through body language, both unconsciously and consciously. The skill to encode and decode basic cues can help you portray yourself positively and read how others see you.

According to research, body language accounts for 60-90% of our communication, and our subconscious mind controls it. On the other hand, positive body language denotes nonverbal communication through movements of confidence, attention, and positive reaction to what others say. It is also known as Open Body Language. It allows us to be approachable and open to others, making them feel at ease during encounters or deals.

Positive body language assists a person in excelling and being more convincing. It also puts a person's viewpoint forward more effortlessly than others in an organization. People appreciate positive body language. Hence, an individual who exhibits it receives more recognition and favor in any debate.

It would be best to practice your body language to match your gestures with your words. It helps to ensure that you express your opinions and thoughts correctly. This article will examine ten positive body language techniques to help you excel.

1. Take Up Space by Standing Tall

Using height and space communicates power, worthiness, and confidence nonverbally. Maintaining an erect posture with your shoulders back and your head raised aloft gives the impression that you are confident.

Avoid sitting less while you talk or address people. Standing gives you a more potent and convincing appearance than sitting. The extra space you utilize when you move adds to that impact. However, If you choose to sit, put both feet flat on the floor, widen your arms away from your body (or hook one elbow on the rear of your seat). It is a sitting posture that depicts confidence.

2. Reduce The Pitch of Your Voice

In your organization, the pitch of your voice can significantly influence how you are viewed. Higher-pitched speakers are perceived as less empathic, less impactful, and more nervous than lower-pitched speakers. A speech therapist taught a simple technique that involved putting one's lips together and saying, "Um hum, um hum, um hum." It relaxes one's voice into its proper pitch. It is helpful before making an important phone call or presentation where the pitch of your voice is essential.

3. Attempt Power Stimulating

Power stimulation is another positive body language technique that can help you excel. Think of a recent success that fills you with confidence and pride to establish trust and be regarded as cheerful. It does not have to be drawn from your work career, though it is advised that clients keep a "success log" to locate an event quickly. Then recall your sense of power and certainty and how you sounded and looked. Remembering that deep feeling will help you personify it as you walk up to the podium or enter the meeting room.

4. Try a Power Pose

According to research, holding your body in expansive poses for about two minutes stimulates higher levels of testosterone. For example, leaning back with hands behind your head and feet on a table or standing with arms and legs stretched wide. It stimulates the hormone associated with power and dominance. It also lowers levels of cortisol, a stress hormone.

Try it before your next work meeting to appear and feel more confident. These poses increase feelings of power and tolerance for risk. The study also confirmed that how people feel about you influences them more than what you say.

5. Establish Positive Eye Contact

You could be an introvert, shy, or taught by your cultural background that lengthened eye contact with a senior is inappropriate. However, business individuals worldwide expect you to make eye contact 40-60percent of the period. Here's a quick way to improve your eye contact: When you greet a business coworker, take the time to notice the color of their eyes.

6. Stretch Your Standpoint 

Standing with your legs close together can make you appear nervous or uncertain of what you're saying. You seem confident when you expand your standpoint, relax your knees, and balance your weight in your lower body.

7. Make a Firm Handshake

Because touch is a powerful nonverbal cue, practicing a good handshake is worthwhile. The proper handshake can instantly establish credibility, while the wrong one could cost you a contract. 

The ideal handshake involves facing the other person squarely, making firm palm-to-palm contact. To maintain your perception of a proper professional grip, the web of your hand should be in close contact with the web of the other person's hand.

8. Avoid Nervous Moves

Every time we engage in self-touching, nonverbal cues to calm ourselves down when we're anxious or stressed, our statements lose all credibility. Examples include:

• rubbing our hands together,

• bouncing our feet,

• drumming our fingers on the desk,

• playing with our jewelry,

• twirling our hair, and

• fidgeting.

Take a minute to calm yourself if you notice yourself engaging in any of these habits. Then, plant your feet firmly and place your palms down in your lap or on the table. Being still conveys a sense of calm and assurance.

9. Make Wide Gesticulations

Maintaining a relaxed posture, using open arms and palms expressions, and showcasing your palms, the ultimate "see, I don't have anything to hide" gesture – are all quiet indicators of credence and sincerity. Individuals who make open gestures are regarded as more positive and convincing than those who make closed gestures. For example, crossed arms, hands hidden or kept closer to the body, and so on. Furthermore, suppose you maintain your arms at waist height and gesture within that plane. In that case, many listeners will perceive you as confident and credible.

10. Smile Always 

Smiles have a strong influence on us humans. Smiling improves your mood and communicates to the people around you that you're sociable and trustable.

Most importantly, smiling impacts how other people react to you. When you smile at somebody, they most often return your smile. And, because facial gestures elicit correlating emotions, the smile you receive improves that person's emotional state.