The secret to seeming more in control

🎤 Today’s tip: To sound confident, speak slowly.

It sounds counterintuitive, but if you’re fighting nerves or impostor syndrome, the way to project authority isn’t to let your ideas spill forth in bursts of energy. It’s to dial the energy down.

As the social psychologist Deborah Gruenfeld explains in our sister publication Marker, speaking slowly and deliberately communicates confidence. “Actors slow down, literally, when playing an authoritative character,” she writes. “They speak at a measured pace, in sentences with a clear beginning and end point. They accentuate their consonants to exhibit control. And they don’t race to fill time and space; they are comfortable with pauses and silence.” Saying more doesn’t mean knowing more.

📚 More from Forge on fighting self-doubt:

Why You Should Embrace Your Impostor Syndrome
Read more >>

A Single Principle to Boost Confidence
Read more >>

How to Give Yourself a Pep Talk
Read more >>

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