Confidence...who has it? Who flaunts it? And more importantly who fakes it? We all meet people everyday of our lives who fit into one of these 3 catagories but it is not always easy to tell which is which...unless you know the signs!

Body language is such a massive giveaway when it comes to peoples chosen 'attitude' and whether it is genuine...or a big pile of horse manure! There are several key areas that we can all benefit from greater awareness of. In my experience peoples eyes, hand gestures (or lack of) and general posture are the 3 simple areas that fakers tend to overlook when they are 'being confident'.

Now Im not telling you that you should try and be a 'better faker'! I would recommend to anybody who came to me that there are many many exercises and techniques that are used around the world in many cultures, within many different 'therepies' and across management, sports and psycological fields - that have proved to be very very successful in building self esteem and confidence. These are not faking-it car-salesman techniques.

Much of our confidence levels are long standing, and depend on what situation or location we may be in. Albert Einstein one of the worlds leading intellectuals turned to jelly when faced with train time tables. Many normally confident people clam up as soon as they start to present to a small room of people.

Being aware of our own body language and that of others is an excellent start to a journey of self-esteem building. Work with somebody you trust, a partner, friend or a coach to give you feedback on how you look and act in day to day situations - failing that video yourself or simply look in the mirror and study carefully.

Later this week...how to boost your confidence.
James