The 4 Steps to Appearing (and becoming) more confident

Contrary to popular belief, confidence isn’t just an innate quality you either possess or you don’t. While some people are naturally more confident than others, it’s important to remember that confidence is a skill that you can learn just like everything else.

Appearance matters. It’s not just a question of feeling good about yourself, it’s about the experience you’re giving to those around you. Confidence can make or break your ability to present an important concept to fellow colleagues or potential clients, it can also define your success as the manager of a company, the leader of a team, or a new employee who wants to earn the trust of colleagues and be given greater responsibilities. How you project yourself is almost as essential as the quality of your work when it comes to advancing your career.

Remember, the majority of our communication is nonverbal, the how we say something behind the what we say. Nonverbal communication makes up a minimum of 60 percent of our communication ability. So, if you only focus on your words, you are using only 40 percent of your ability. You have to get into the habit of portraying confidence with both your verbal and nonverbal communication.

1. Stop slouching

Aside from causing lower back pain, standing slumped over or with your shoulders caved in can cause you to look unsure of yourself. Instead of allowing your body to hunch over, stand up straight, hold your head up high and push your shoulders back. Additionally, when you’re speaking with someone, it helps to have your body directly facing theirs. When you’re discovering how to appear more confident, always remember to start with adjusting your posture and everything else will fall into place.

Here’s some tips from us:

  • Stand up as TALL as you can

  • Pull your shoulder blades down and back as far as possible – This will feel really weird at first, but work at it!

  • Pick your chin up and look straight ahead – stop looking down while walking around, there’s a whole world out there for you to see.

  • Do planks every other day (working your way up to two minutes), and you’ll have a rock-solid core and incredibly strong lower back.

  • Back exercises like pull-ups and inverted rows can help a lot with posture.

2. Take your time

The first dead giveaway that someone is nervous? Speaking too quickly and mumbling through your sentences!

Take your time when speaking or expressing an idea, take a deep breath and don’t be afraid of pausing before moving on to the next point.

An easy fix to project your voice better is to simply smile! When you smile, your voice will naturally sound pleasant and more confident. You should also make a point not to raise your pitch at the end of sentences, as this can make it seem like you’re asking a question or looking for approval for what you’ve just said.

3. Recognise the value of your attention

The most valuable thing we can offer to others isn’t money or time, it’s attention!

Direct eye contact lets people know you’re focusing your attention on them, and this is key to establishing a good relationship with someone.

Too much intense eye contact can be off-putting, so aim for a happy medium. A good rule of thumb is the 80/20 rule. Meet your partner’s eyes 80% of the time you’re speaking and allow your eyes to wander or focus on something else the other 20%.

4. Steer your hands

The way you hold your hands is a big part of how to appear confident. Fidgeting, wringing your hands, folding your arms or sticking your hands in your pockets give off nervous or uncomfortable energy to everyone around you.

Not sure what to do with your hands? Try simple gestures. For example, make a steeple shape with your hands by placing the tips of your fingers together so they form a point. When you’re wondering how to show confidence, this is an excellent gesture that can be used in many situations, whether you’re giving a presentation or deeply listening to someone else.

So, what tips did I miss or mess up? Any other words of wisdom to pass along? Us nerds need all the help we can get!

Send us a message or leave a comment if you’d like to discuss any of our points, or add one of your own. If you need guidance with interviewing for a job, don’t hesitate to send us an email or drop us a private message via our social channels – it’s just a conversation!

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Top 4 reasons why you should work with a recruitment agency

2020 didn’t just threaten Malta’s collective health, it gave a devastating blow to businesses across every industry. As minimising costs becomes increasingly more important in order to survive, the question follows: How can hiring a recruitment agency help me reduce expenditure?

Working with an agency to hire recruits and manage your team’s development sounds like an extra step in the short run, but it brings about a wealth of advantages in the long run. In this article, we go over what we believe are the most important benefits.

1. Short-term and long-term cost savings

In business, as in life, time is money. Recruitment agencies don’t just take care of the initial step of the hiring process, depending on your contract, an agency will schedule interviews, prepare candidates with the training and information they need, run background checks, communicate with interviewees, and in some cases, deal with a host of administrative and HR issues.

One major mistake companies make is to not follow up on job interviews. Even if you’re rejecting someone, it’s still essential to communicate with them. Marketing can do a lot to project a good image for your company, but nothing can be as devastating as bad opinions about your attitude spreading through word-of-mouth.

2. Additional services

Say you don’t have the resources to have a human resources department at your company, a full-service recruitment agency like our own can handle payroll, employee complaints, training and development, as well as aid your team improve traffic flow and operations. Basically, a recruitment agency can act as your in-house HR management team. By outsourcing this service, your company can remain entirely focused on its core competencies and avoid spreading yourself too thin.

If your business has a job position available with an uncertain salary, a recruitment agency is ideally placed to give you an accurate market rate using salary data and local market knowledge.

3. Finding the right talent

If you use a recruitment agency, you’re statistically more likely to access the best job-seekers on the market; candidates who are actively looking for a new job position are more likely to register with a recruitment agency due to their efficiency.

Most agencies will position job vacancy adverts on a range of job boards, understanding the logistics and marketing value behind using each one – invaluable knowledge that can only be accessed from working in the recruitment sector.

4. Identifying the right direction for your team to grow

One of the biggest problems companies incur when handling recruitment themselves is that they don’t look for the right skills required by their agency to grow in the most profitable direction. Companies often fall into the trap of looking for an employee to solve a short term problem that can more easily be solved by restructuring your present team or investing in new software.

A recruitment agency will use its insights into other companies working in the same industry as you are to provide guidance on which positions you should be recruiting for, identify the right time for you to grow your team, and assess the most cost effective composition for your team.

Start a conversation with us!

To find out more about how partnering with us can help your company, send us a private message via our social channels or email us at [email protected].

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