Confidence is one of the key skills that you can acquire in your life, it can affect the way you view and treat others and the way others view and treat you. Some people are naturally more confident than others, but confidence is a skill you can learn.

In general, people are at their most confident when they are at their most comfortable or when they are doing something that they feel they are good at, for example being around friends and family or driving a car. However, when people are taken out of their comfort zone or feel under pressure even the most confident of peoplke may struggle, for example when meeting a parters parents for the first time or speaking in front of a large crowd.

People have a natural tendency to be attracted to others who appear to have lot of confidence, we easily believe or trust people who speak and act in a confident way. So each time you find yourself in a challenging situation, make yourself appear as though you are confident, as the saying goes ‘fake it till you make it’.

Maintaining a good posture helps you appear more confident. It is important to watch how you carry yourself, since your posture communicates a lot about you. When you maintain a good posture, it gets the message “I feel good about myself”. Based on a study published in European Journal of Social Psychology, it was found that people who sat up straight in their chair were more confident about statements they wrote, than the slouching ones. By keeping your shoulders back and chest open, you not only look taller, slimmer but radiantly self-assured as well.

Spend a little time each day on your presentation, you don’t have to buy a whole new wardrobe for yourself to feel better in your clothes. As long as you are clean, well groomed and feel good in your clothes, you have set yourself up to be confident.

An easy grin helps. When you are worried and don’t feel confident, you can’t fake a smile. People can spot a fake smile from mile away, but then smallest of smile can do wonders in many situations as you will appear approachable as well as at ease with the situation, people will respond well to this.

Since body language is very important to make yourself appear confident, make eye contact while speaking. You do not have to stare into their eyes continuously but be mindful that eye contact is important as it tells the person you are talking that you respect them and you consider them worthy of talking to as well as makes you appear more knowledgable about the topic and more self- assured.

Maintain approachable body language. If you bundle yourself in a corner pretending to play a game on your mobile, do you think anyone would come up to you and say hello? Maintain a body language that encourages others to walk up to you, in short make yourself approachable. You can do this by keeping your body open instead of keeping your arms and legs crossed. It means you are not interested in welcoming them.