How to Walk with Confidence

Preparing to Walk Confidently

Develop a dressing ritual. Laying out your clothes the night before a big event can help you during the event. By laying out your clothes, you can identify any issues with what you plan to wear (lint, loose threads, etc.). This ritual can also help increase your confidence by giving you a chance to visualize how you will look at the event.

Practice walking. Aim to walk for 30 minutes per day at least three times per week to improve your stride. As you practice walking, remember to stand tall, keep your arms at your sides, and take long brisk steps. The exercise will do you good and your walk will also improve as a result.

Practice power posing. Standing tall with your arms and legs spread out wide will help you to feel more confident. This type of dominant pose also reduces cortisol and increases testosterone, which will add to your confidence. Take a moment to duck into bathroom stall or empty room and power pose for a minute before you need to walk confidently.

Distract yourself from negative emotions. If you are nervous, don't focus on how nervous you are because that will only make you more nervous. Instead, distract yourself by looking at humorous images on the internet or talking to a friend who is good at making you laugh. You can also try a distraction technique like trying to count down from 100 by 7. You can also pick a color, and look around the room to find all the objects that you can that contain that color.

Keep mouthwash on hand to quickly freshen your breath. Always keep a small bottle of mouthwash on hand to quickly swish away bad breath and brighten your smile. This small ritual will eliminate any fears you may have had about bad breath or food stuck in your teeth and allow you to walk more confidently. Some people recommend chewing a piece of ginger. This both helps keep your breath fresh, and may help you relax.

Check the news for ice breakers. Being in the know can also boost your confidence by giving you some interesting topics to bring up in conversations with strangers. Just steer clear of bringing up anything too depressing or politically divisive. Stick to lighter topics that you think others might find interesting.

Walking into a Room

Smile as you walk and keep smiling. Smiling projects your confidence and makes you seem approachable as well. You don't need to sport a huge grin, just a subtle smile will do. Try not to force your smile. Instead, showcase your natural smile as you walk.

Stand up straight. A hunched appearance projects a lack of confidence. Instead, walk straight and tall to seem confident. As you walk, keep your shoulders back and lift up your chin slightly. You can test your posture by holding a pencil in each hand and making a fist. Let your arms fall loosely at your sides. If the pencils face inward (towards you), then you are hunching your shoulders. Shift your shoulders back until the pencils face forward to see how your ideal posture should be while you walk.

Walk briskly. A brisk walk projects confidence, while walking slowly makes you seem preoccupied with your own thoughts. To seem more confident when you walk, adopt a brisk pace. Try practicing walking to the beat of a favorite quick paced song to help you develop your brisk walk.

Lengthen your stride. Walking silently makes you seem meek or afraid, so don't tiptoe or walk silently. A bit of noise is good when you want to walk confidently. It demonstrates that you want to be seen because you are confident in your appearance.

Keep your arms at your sides. Crossing your arms while you walk makes you seem vulnerable, so don't cross your arms. Allow your arms to fall loosely at your sides and move them back and forth slightly as you walk. Keep your posture open, as this helps others see you and friendly and approachable.

Don't walk closely behind someone. Walking right behind someone that you came with can send the message that you are weaker than that person and that you require protection. If you will be walking with someone, make sure that you are in front of the person or at least side-by side.

Maintaining a Confident Appearance

Greet people as you walk into a room or down a hallway. Make eye contact with people you know as well as strangers. Introduce yourself if you haven't met before, but only offer your first and last name at first. Simply say, “Hi, I'm ___ ____.” Then wait for the other person to speak. Stopping at your name will make you seem more confident and intriguing. A strong handshake will also demonstrate your confidence and competence.

Use your hands when you talk. Gesticulating will keep you from doing things like putting your hands into your pockets or fidgeting. These gestures demonstrate nervousness and gesticulating while you talk will have the opposite effect. You will seem more confident and powerful by using your hands while you talk.

Choose an interesting object or painting to focus on. Pick something that is at eye level. If you begin to feel nervous, look at this spot to keep yourself from looking down at the floor.

Breathe deeply. If you begin to feel overwhelmed or anxious, force yourself to take five deep breaths. Breathing deeply will not only calm you down, it will also increase your alertness so that you can continue to be at your best. If you are giving a presentation, take five deep breaths right before you begin to speak. Try slowing down your speech by about half a second. This will help you breathe deeper and sound more calm as you speak. Practice by reading a book out loud and going just a little slower than you normally would. Make sure that your voice sounds loud enough.

Ask questions. When you are meeting new people, the best way to keep the conversation going is to ask questions and listen intently. Ask things like, “What do you do?” “What do you think of the party?” “What are you working on currently?” “Where are you from?”