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How Much Confidence Is Enough? When to Dial It Down

By Jack Malcolm / 1.19.2011 / 1 Comment

It’s possible to hurt your credibility by coming across as too confident.

In the previous two articles, we’ve focused on ways to project greater confidence in your communications with others, but there are times that it can be taken too far. For example, mitigating your speech may lead to others being unsure of what you want, but the person who is always completely direct may get tiresome very quickly.

We also discussed the confidence that comes from conviction. Conviction stays logically grounded and does not quite cross the line into passion. It’s wonderful to be passionate about an issue, but in business communication it may come across as excessively emotional and can quickly turn people off.

You don’t always have to be forceful and direct to be persuasive; we all know people who are very persuasive and soft-spoken at the same time.

Persuasive communication

How to Project Confidence

By Jack Malcolm / 1.17.2011 / No Comment

In my previous article, I presented ways to change or reduce speech patterns that make you sound like a wimp. This article focuses on positive steps you can take to project more confidence.

Be confident

The easiest way to show confidence is to feel confidence. Conviction born of a strong case and adequate preparation plays a huge role in confidence; when you thoroughly know your topic and you’re pretty sure the other person agrees with your point of view, how can you help but feel confident? Your voice will be surer, you’ll tend to greater clarity, you’ll carry yourself straighter, and these will go a long way to make up for any other speaking sins.

Persuasive communication

Do You Sound Like A Wimp?

By Jack Malcolm / 1.12.2011 / No Comment

We sometimes overestimate how powerful we appear to others.

Research has shown what most of us take for granted, that confident speakers are perceived as more credible and more persuasive.[i] Listeners are very adept at picking up subtle signals that indicate the confidence speakers have in their message, and gravitate toward the leadership of people who sound confident. Confidence is a key emotion, and emotions can be contagious.

Unfortunately, lack of confidence can also be contagious, so your first priority is to make sure you don’t sound like a wimp. For starters, it helps to recognize speaking patterns that can insidiously subtract power from the persuasiveness of your message, without you being aware of them.

Persuasive communication - Presentations

Visual Persuasion: Dos and Don’ts

By Jack Malcolm / 1.6.2011 / 2 Comments

One glance at an image may convey more information and meaning than several minutes of talk.

In 2001, scientists played a dirty trick on some of the world’s foremost wine experts. They gave them samples of white wine to taste—but these samples had been turned red with food coloring. Wine experts have a language of their own, which baffles those of us who are less sophisticated. Actually, they have two languages—one used for reds and one for whites, and their respective vocabularies are meant to be totally separate. Every one of the experts described the wines using the specialized language for reds. Their highly educated and finely calibrated senses of taste and smell were overridden in their brains by their visual sense. That’s how powerful a visual impression can be.

If a visual can convey false information so strongly, imagine what it could do in support of a true message.