These behaviours can be subtle, so it is the subconscious that picks them up. A single behaviour is not usually as important as an overall impression, although a marked negative expression of any of these behaviours can undermine other people’s confidence in you. On the other hand, gaining the confidence of others will boost your self-confidence.

Another technique to build confidence is ‘matching and mirroring’: subtly copying the body language of the person you are talking to. If you watch people who have a deep rapport, you will notice that they exhibit similar body postures and gestures. 

Confident people do this naturally and subconsciously. But if you consciously match and mirror the person you are talking to, you will build their confidence in you, leading to your own self-confidence. Matching and mirroring should be done subtly, or it can seem like manipulation rather than empathy building.

Matching gestures when it is your turn to speak in a conversation looks and feels more natural. You can start to move someone else’s mindset from negative to positive by initially matching their body language and then slowly changing yours to become more positive. You should find the person you are talking to subconsciously starting to match and mirror and change their perspective.