Aviation Leadership and Management Skills Development - Body Language Affects Executive Presence - Blog

Without a doubt, Body Language impacts executive presence. We need to recognize this and embrace every opportunity to show that we are relaxed, comfortable, and confident.

Different People - Different Culture

Whilst our body language is different, we can promote the focus on specific elements

Strive to adopt an open and upright posture
Keep your arms at your side (never folded); use your hands to support gentle gestures without exaggeration.
Making appropriate eye contact helps to make you appear more confident as well as helping others to feel your level of engagement.

Caution: Too Little Eye Contact can provide the wrong message (even though it may not be the case) The perception is that you may appear disengaged, distracted or even dishonest. Make it real & do not stare, as this can also be unnerving.

Learn to Smile

Holding the same expression continuously is not ideal; learn to show some appropriate emotion, for example, smiling, laughing, and frowning. Practice gentle nodding to show you are listening, and smile when they say something relevant, interesting, or important.

Personal Posture

Adopting strong body language becomes a virtuous circle as it not only makes you appear stronger and more confident, but as a result, this then has a tendency to actually influence your own personal feelings in a positive way.

Important Note: To be real and not to “overdo” in any particular direction. Ensure your facial expressions are aligned with your emotions.

Appearance is Everything

Your personal appearance and grooming, as well as your choice of clothing, make a difference to your presence and how you are perceived.

Sometimes we disregard our appearance and believe that it does not impact our communication and presentation skills. However, the reality is that people will very quickly make assumptions (even if they will not / do not share their conclusions).

So in reality, assessments are made of you directly based on your personal appearance, including your facial expressions, the clothes you wear, your grooming, & your body language.

Implementing Personal Change

Slowly (slowly is the watchword) we can all make some changes, and the most important part of any change is to make it real. For sure, people will notice "typically” everything dramatic that is happening. This is why we should aim for small, incremental changes.

Note that anything that is felt as artificial may lead to a lack of trust, which is the opposite of the ultimate objective to drive a stronger personal presence.

Next Steps

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