If you had just a few seconds to make a strong first impression, what would you focus on? What to say, how to behave, or perhaps the way you smile? For many years, communication training referenced a simple percentage-based model (Mehrabian) to explain the role of words, tone and body language. While memorable, this model was based on very specific experimental conditions and has since been widely challenged when applied to real-world communication.
What the study did highlight, however, remains highly relevant: when what we say and how we say it are misaligned, audiences tend to trust our behaviour over our words. Contemporary research now explains this not through fixed ratios, but through how people form rapid first impressions, process information, and assess credibility. In presentation settings, non-verbal cues continue to play a critical role in shaping communication clarity, confidence and trust, particularly in the crucial first moments.
Research into first impressions and “thin-slicing” (Ambady & Rosenthal) shows that audiences rapidly form judgements about confidence, credibility and competence from very brief behavioural cues, often before a message is fully understood. These instant assessments are driven less by polished wording and more by what people can see: posture, eye contact, facial expressions and movement.
This is backed by Research into non-verbal communication, including TED Talk analyses, which shows that audiences rate speakers’ charisma, intelligence, and credibility largely based on their body language, sometimes as much as on the words themselves.
The implication for presenters is clear. Small, visible behaviours play a disproportionately powerful role in how your message lands, particularly in those critical opening moments.
So, don’t invest all your preparation time perfecting slides, scripts and data. Make sure you also consider how to deliver the words so that your actions amp up the clarity and impact of your content. This doesn’t mean words don’t matter. They do. But non-verbal communication using body language, gestures, movement and facial expressions can be equally critical.
The good news is that impactful non-verbal communication isn’t about dramatic gestures or adopting an artificial “presentation persona”. Small, behaviour-based adjustments – how you stand, where you look, how you move – can create immediate improvements in presence and authority, both in the room and on screen.
Understanding and refining these cues is one of the fastest ways to improve how your message is received without rewriting a single slide. So, in this blog, we are going to share our top tips to help you land your messages with authenticity and impact.
Stand Tall: The Foundation of Confident Delivery
Confident delivery starts from the ground up. A neutral, grounded posture gives your audience an immediate visual signal of credibility and gives you a physical sense of stability.
Aim to align your head, shoulders and hips so your body feels balanced rather than braced. When posture collapses (slouching, locked knees, forward head), breathing becomes shallow and tension increases, which often shows up as vocal strain or rushed delivery. An aligned posture, by contrast, supports steadier breathing, clearer vocal projection and a calmer nervous system.
Quick practice: Reset your posture in 3 seconds
- Stand and plant both feet hip-width apart
- Roll your shoulders up, back and down
- Imagine a string gently lifting the crown of your head
Do
- Stand evenly on both feet
- Keep knees soft, not locked
Don’t
- Lean on one hip
- Anchor yourself to the lectern for safety
Why posture matters in presentations: Posture affects breathing, vocal clarity and perceived confidence, helping audiences engage more readily with your message.
Use Purposeful Gestures (Not Random Movement)
Gestures work best when they serve the message. Purposeful, illustrative gestures help audiences follow structure, emphasis and meaning. This can be especially useful when explaining processes, disparities or key ideas.
Random or repetitive movement, however, tends to distract. Common habits like ‘washing machine hands’, or nervous fiddling, often signal nerves and discomfort, rather than confidence.
Trust-building gesture cues
- Open palms = transparency
- Upward gestures = possibility, progress
- Symmetrical gestures = balance and control
Do
- Gesture on key words and key messages
- Ensure gestures start and finish cleanly
Don’t
- Gesture continuously
- Hide your hands behind your back or in your pockets
Why gestures matter in presentations: Matching your gestures with your message increases communication clarity and audience attention. This is because effective gestures visually reinforce verbal meaning rather than compete with it.
Make Eye Contact That Builds Trust
Eye contact is one of the fastest ways to establish a connection, but it needs to feel natural, not forced. It must also be aligned with cultural and corporate norms.
A useful guideline in countries such as the UK, America and Australia is the 3-second connection: hold eye contact with one person for the length of a sentence or complete thought, then move on. This feels intentional without becoming intense. Why? Because studies in social psychology and conversation analysis show that:
- Brief eye contact (<1 second) feels avoidant or disengaged
- Extended, unbroken eye contact (>4–5 seconds) can feel dominant, threatening or uncomfortable
Natural conversational eye contact tends to occur in short, meaningful bursts, often aligned with:
- Completing a thought
- Emphasising a key point
- Inviting questions or audience participation
In large rooms, think in zones rather than individuals. In virtual settings, look into the camera when making key points, and at faces when listening or responding.
Do
- Finish a thought before shifting gaze
- Look at real people, not the back wall
Don’t
- Rapidly scan the room
- Lock onto one ‘friendly face’ for safety
Why eye contact matters in presentations: Eye contact directly influences how credible, confident and trustworthy you appear. When it’s too brief, audiences can interpret it as uncertainty or disengagement; when it’s too intense, it can feel uncomfortable or overly dominant. Using eye contact in short, intentional bursts helps your audience feel acknowledged and included while also supporting clarity and flow in your communication.
Use Your Facial Expressions to Reinforce Your Message
Your audience starts reading your facial expression before they’ve processed your words. A tense jaw, furrowed brow or blank expression can unintentionally signal stress, uncertainty or disengagement.
Small adjustments make a big difference. Relaxing the jaw, softening the eyebrows and allowing natural expression make you appear more approachable and credible.
Smiling has its place, particularly at the opening and when signalling reassurance, but it should be intentional and appropriate to the message. Avoid a flat affect, where expression doesn’t change with content, as it reduces emotional engagement.
Do
- Let your face match your message
- Use facial expressions to underline key moments or messages in the presentation
Don’t
- Freeze your expression under pressure
- Over-smile during serious or complex content
Why facial expressions matter in presentations: Facial expression is one of the most immediate and emotionally powerful signals a presenter sends. Audiences instinctively use it to judge confidence, intent and authenticity before they consciously evaluate the message itself. When facial expression aligns with content, it reinforces meaning and builds trust; when it’s tense, flat or mismatched, it creates distance and reduces engagement. Subtle, intentional expressions help your message feel more human, believable and emotionally accessible.
Control Your Movement to Reduce Distraction
Movement is a powerful tool in presentations when used purposefully. Purposeful movement helps manage nerves, signals confidence, and keeps your audience engaged.
How to move with purpose:
At the beginning of a presentation, do what we call ‘mark your start’ – position yourself where the audience can see you clearly. Take a moment to pause, breathe, make eye contact, and smile before you begin speaking. These 2–3 seconds can significantly increase perceived poise and confidence.
Then move, by taking a few steps, between sections of the presentation, or between key ideas. This movement reinforces your narrative structure without distracting the audience.
Do
- Use small movements, together with pauses, to emphasise transitions
- Move slightly forward to connect with your audience
- Anchor your stance to land key points
Don’t
- Pace continuously or wander aimlessly
- Rock back and forth, sway, or fidget
- Walk backwards while talking
Why movement matters in presentations: By moving purposefully, you control the audience’s attention. With practise, movement becomes a natural extension of your message; enhancing clarity, confidence, and engagement. Subtle, controlled movement also helps burn off excess energy, reduce visible signs of nervousness, and make the delivery appear more relaxed and confident.
Manage Nervous Habits Before They Take Over
Even the most experienced presenters have small habits that emerge under pressure; fiddling with hair, adjusting clothing, tapping fingers, shuffling papers, or over-handling a clicker. While these are natural stress responses, they can distract your audience and undermine credibility.
The key is awareness and substitution. Introducing simple behavioural swaps allows you to redirect nervous energy in a controlled way, turning potential distractions into subtle signals of confidence.
For example:
- Anchor a hand briefly: Instead of tapping, rest one hand lightly at your side or on the table, back of a chair, on the podium, or between gestures.
- Hold a prop: Use a marker or a clicker to give your hands a ‘safe’ place to rest without fidgeting.
- Controlled gestures: Replace restless movements with deliberate, illustrative gestures on keywords or points of emphasis.
Do
- Identify your habitual nervous behaviours during practise or recordings
- Choose a small, simple substitution that feels natural
- Combine with posture and intentional breathing to reset physically and psychologically to maximise calm
Don’t
- Freeze your body, as this will appear unnatural and tense
- Use props or movements as crutches for poor planning
- Ignore your nervous energy – it’s better harnessed than suppressed
Why managing nerves matters: These substitutions work because they redirect the body’s natural nervous energy, which is uncontrolled, into actions that are intentional. Over time, the swapped behaviour becomes automatic, helping presenters feel calmer, appear more composed, and communicate more clearly.
Match Your Non-Verbal Energy to Your Message
Energy is about appropriateness, not volume. High energy can create engagement, but serious, complex or sensitive messages often require a more contained physical presence.
The key is harmony. Your body language and vocal tone should reinforce the emotional intent of your message. Low physical energy paired with vocal variation can still feel authoritative and engaging, particularly in leadership and storytelling contexts.
Manage your energy by:
- Deliberately standing still for important points
- Using intentional vocal contrast rather than constant vocal animation
- Letting pauses do some of the work
Do
- Match your physical energy to the content: slower, measured movements for serious points; more expansive gestures for exciting moments
- Use vocal variation to complement physical presence
- Pause to let key points land, letting your stillness reinforce impact
- Reset energy with posture and breathing if you feel flat or rushed
Don’t
- Keep energy high for every point; it will tire you and overwhelm your audience
- Underplay energy entirely for serious content; your delivery can feel disengaged if too subdued
- Let nervous energy drive pacing or gestures, which can appear frantic
- Forget to align voice and movement, as mismatched signals confuse the audience
Why managing your energy during presentations matters: Low or inconsistent energy can make even strong messages feel flat or disengaging. Conversely, over-the-top energy can seem insincere or distracting.
7 Quick Fixes to Try in Your Next Presentation
If you’ve got a presentation coming up and are not confident about incorporating all of these tips just yet, here are 7 simple things you can try out immediately.
- Drop your shoulders before you begin
- Smile intentionally at the opening
- Pause before your first sentence
- Plant your feet during key points
- Gesture to bring your content to life
- Slow your transitions between ideas
- Look at real people, not the back wall
When to Get Professional Help and Take Your Delivery to the Next Level
Even with awareness of posture, gestures, eye contact, and energy, some situations call for professional guidance to refine and embed these skills. Seeking expert and tailored coaching can be especially valuable when feedback suggests a lack of confidence or presence, when the frequency and stakes of presentations are increasing, or when leadership visibility is growing.
In today’s workplace, virtual and hybrid delivery has also become a core skill, requiring mastery of body language, vocal presence, and engagement strategies both on-screen and in the room. Professional coaching helps turn awareness into consistent, confident behaviour, ensuring that nervous habits, misaligned gestures, or uneven energy don’t undermine your message.
By investing in support, you’re not just learning techniques; you’re building the presence and poise that make every presentation more persuasive, credible, and memorable. Whether it’s managing nerves, refining delivery for high-stakes meetings, or adapting to virtual formats, professional guidance helps you translate theory into practise so that your body language, energy, and voice all work seamlessly with your message.
How SecondNature Can Help
At SecondNature UK, we specialise in helping professionals communicate, present, and influence with greater confidence and impact. Whether it’s group workshops for teams or 1-to-1 coaching for senior leaders, our programmes are built to deliver tangible, business-ready results.
We’re known as the Business Presentation Skills Experts, training and coaching thousands of people in an A-Z of global and local organisations. Whether it’s a team meeting or a high-stakes presentation, we help people become the confident, compelling, and memorable presenters they want to be.
View our presentation skills training and coaching reviews to check out what they say about our programmes. We have a wide range of customised corporate training solutions, both in-person and online, to choose from, each of which is tailored to your specific business needs.
