The Study Skills Programme
Confidence Confidence is key to being a good communicator . Think back to the three effective speakers you chose at the beginning of this module – it ’ s highly likely that confidence was a factor in each of your choices . However , it ’ s important to recognise that you don ’ t have to be confident – you just need to appear confident !
Confidence can be evident in your facial expression – be enthusiastic , friendly and open . Make sure your voice is clear and lively . Give the impression of being confident , prepared and organised .
Confidence is also linked to the next tool in your toolkit … body language .
Body language Effective communicators need to be conscious of the power of their own body language . Research suggests that 93 % of the impact of a first impression is formed on non-verbal communication . You therefore need to think carefully about your eye contact , posture , facial expressions and gestures .
Let ’ s test the impact of body language . On the next two pages , you will find a series of images . For each image , identify the body language and what it is conveying . Write in as much detail as possible . There are no right or wrong answers , but it would be interesting to do this with a partner and compare your responses .
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