What you show on the outside is a manifestation of what happens inside you. Hence we focus on understanding and working with the internal processes. However, knowing what self-confidence looks like from the outside, helps you to find things to improve in your performance (through clicks). Also, demonstrating self-confident behaviour might make you feel more self-confident. And, if you show self-confidence, it could lead to an enthousiastic response from your audience that does make you feel more sure of yourself. For these reasons we here add a section on the outside view of presenting.

Why non-verbal communication matters

Also online, when talking, it is almost impossible to communicate without body language. Non-verbal communication (including paralinguistics, the verbal communication that is not words) can be very clear, even when something completely different is being said on the verbal level. If you say: ‘I hate you,’ with a smile while stretching your arms to someone, means the opposite of what the words suggest. In general, the non-verbal, i.e. body message, is easier to believe than the content message. In addition, we tend to like people less if their verbal and non-verbal messages are inconsistent with one another. Think about an overenthusiastically presentation on end of life care. Doctors, spending years in this field, might forget the emotional charge the topic can have for the listener. When the non-verbal language and the contents do communicate the same message (congruency), the audience will perceive the presenter as more authentic and trustworthy.

The visual channel always wins. This is true for the combination of slides and spoken words (see step 6), but also for spoken words and body language. If the contents and the non-verbal message are contradictory, the latter is perceived as being true. The reason for this is that most people are better at lying in words than in their body language. For example, we are hardly aware of our non-verbal behaviour when we lie. Most people have unconsciously learnt to interpret body language in their early childhood and trust what they see without questioning it. It may be that we are quicker to believe body language because this is the language that we have learnt to ‘speak’ first, both individually and as a species. Sometimes you cannot quite put your finger on where contents and non-verbal cues part company, but you can feel that something is wrong. This can discredit the story being told, making it less and less credible.

People who are enthusiastically telling a story automatically and naturally take up their space and this is recognized by their audience. If you take up your space and have a congruent body posture, you invite your audience to do the same. When you show you are comfortable you create an environment in which your audience feels safe. This also works the other way around. The verbal and non-verbal message should both be good and support each other.

What the audience wants

How does a person with self-confidence look like? Here is a brief description from top to bottom.

Face

The part of our body that is most visible is our face. We are good at using our face to express our more subtle emotions. In particular our eyes and mouth play an important role in this respect. There are many proverbs and sayings that derive from this fact, such as ‘eyes are a mirror for the soul’ and ‘we did not see eye to eye’. A spoken message can be emphasized using a facial expression or a gesture.

In our coaching we often see the ‘like me’ expression. This is recognized by a slightly sideways tilted head and raised eyebrows. It signals ‘I am not dangerous’ and is a result of feeling not at ease. However, it also could be interpreted as a sign of weakness and insecurity. Being aware of your facial expression and position of your head can help you to look more self-assured.

A neutral to friendly face is best to look at. Use your expression functionally. Smile when you make a joke, look serious, when you are talking about serious stuff.

Head

You look the most convincing if you hold your head up straight (not tilted to the side). Preferably look over your chin as if an invisible threat is pulling upwards from your hair-whorl at the back of your head. Tilting your head to the back gives the impression you are afraid. Friendly nodding while listening to a question, shows that you are listening and fosters connection.

Eyes

Eye contact is an important means to establish a connection. Avoiding eye contact can be perceived as a sign of discomfort. You signal: ‘I do not want to be here’. However, a strong fixation on one person can also feel weird. Keep eye contact for three to five seconds, the duration of a sentence or a thought.

Online real eye contact is impossible, therefore the advice could be to look at the camera. Looking at the camera is an unnatural thing. Therefore little nudges can subtly remind you of it. Place a sticker with an arrow pointing at the camera. Or, move the window showing the panel just below the camera. Looking at your audience will be very close to looking in the camera.

Voice

Volume can be used to strengthen a message by speaking loudly or on the contrary by nearly whispering so that your audience has to make an effort to follow what you are saying. The importance of proper breathing cannot be emphasized enough. Stress can cause you to tense up your shoulders, thereby reducing your lung capacity. You also start breathing higher in your chest, decreasing your lung capacity further. As a result, you will have less air and your sentences will become shorter. This prevents you from presenting in a story telling way. Your voice will be staccato and alternated with short bits of breathing in. You forget to breathe out. Especially for the more sensitive members of your audience, this will be very distracting. Generally speaking, the better you breathe, the more self-assured your voice sounds. People vary in the aspects of body language which they respond to most. Some pay more attention to what they hear, such as the tone of the voice, others focus more on what they see, for instance shiny eyes or a quivering upper lip.

If a speaker is experiencing negative thoughts or feelings, this can be observed in a number of external reactions, such as a tense posture, restless gestures, high breathing, fast pace and a loud, high voice. For our purposes it is important to realize that your non-verbal behaviour can either support your substantive message or obstruct it.

Shoulders

Presenting in an upright position, pushing your shoulders back slightly not only opens up your chest and helps with breathing it also displays self-confidence. In online interviews, your shoulders and head are part of your silhouette. Moving shoulders from left to right is extra salient, because these movements alter the distance between your body and the video’s frame. Like everything, in repetition it starts to distract.

Hands

Often we get the question ‘What to do with my hands?’ We mostly advice to do nothing special, they will follow you. What you should not do is repeat certain gestures over and over again. This will become distracting. Start with your hands on your lower belly. This also helps you to breath better.

Feet

Your feet play an important role in presenting. If your feet are pointing at the exit, this communicates “I do not want to be here’, and standing to still could tell you are frozen by fear. On the other hand, walking to much gives a restless impression. During our trainings we encourage some people to move more in order to give a more dynamic impression. Others, often more expressive and direct people, we encourage to move a bit less and use their movement to put more emphasis on important passages of their presentation.

Online your feet are of course outside the video’s frame. However, they do play an important role in grounding (see step 9) as a means of reconnecting with your body.

Looks

Besides your behaviour also your looks tell something about you. Your hairstyle, facial hair (shaved or three days beard), make-up, and cloths are all communication means. They can show whether you take this grant interview seriously or not. Remember: honour your audience. What you choose to wear both depends on you and your audience. In some fields of research it is the custom to wear a suit and tie, in other fields this is heavily overdoing it. Respect cultural differences, but choose cloths you would wear when you would give a key note presentation on a conference, or on a job interview. Clothes that are one step more formal than you are used to wear on a work day. This also makes you feel more self-assured.

You can show that you take this interview seriously, but you can also use your appearance to highlight certain qualities or down play others. Long, loose hair can give the impression of closedness. It hides part of your face, neck and shoulders. Combined with a closed body language, this can strengthen the impression you do not feel safe. If you wear your hair up, this opens your face and shows you dare to take your place. Some people have by nature a youthful presence. This can give the impression you do not have the seriousness to deliver what you promise or that you are not able to lead a research group. It might be a good idea to choose clothes that emphasize your seriousness. On the other hand, some people give the impression of being arrogant. Too formal cloths can emphasize this.

An extra thing to consider when preparing for an online interview is how the fabric, colours and patterns interact with the webcam’s pixels and its automatic light calibration. Try several options, make screenshots and go for the best looking option.

 Tip box: two monitors

During the presentation it is strange to not see your audience while sharing your slides. You are talking in the void. A solution is to use two monitors. On your second monitor you can put your slides on full screen, which you can easily share with the panel. Meanwhile, the panel remains visible on the first monitor. If you drag the window with your audience to just below your webcam, you automatically look in the camera when looking at your audience. An often heart tip is to constantly look at the camera which gives the audience the idea of eye contact. However, for you this unnatural fixation on the camera will be an extra burden for working memory. It might be enough to now and then look at the camera if you remember it.

Tip box: un-share your screen

In the online environment, sharing and un-sharing your screen is part of the impression you leave behind. Doing it smoothly will go unnoticed (as good design is invisible). Struggling to find the share button, will increase your nerves at the beginning. Forgetting to un-share will make you appear at thumbnail size throughout the Q+A, hampering the connection with your audience. Some chairs will remind you, others just leave it as it is. These troubles happens to many candidates in the heat of the moment (because of their stress induced working memory reduction). Therefore, make sharing and un-sharing of your slides part of your presentation rehearsal. Thus, it will go automatically.