When someone is speaking to a group of people, it is important to look confident. Not only will this give the person more credibility, the audience will also be more willing to listen to the presenter. In completing this collage, I explored a culture that is not apparent—body language. Body language consists of small, slight motions that portray our inner thoughts. For someone who is presenting, it is important for he/she to look confident. Knowing the body language of a confident person allows one to “fake it till they make it.”
In this collage, I analyzed each part of the body, specifically the face, arms, hands, legs and feet, of a confident person. Each category consists of two to three photos that illustrate the position of the body part. In the first slide, I focused on the face. A confident person always has a smile and keeps eye contact with the audience. Nodding shows that an idea is approved. Because it is related to positive emotions, nodding can also boost one’s confidence. In the next set of slides, I focused on the positioning of the arms. When a person’s arms are taking up space, the person is dominating his/her surroundings. This is why it is natural for athletes to raise their arms in the air when they win a race. Our hands also reveal how confident we are. When giving a handshake, one should have a firm grip. In the second photo of this set of slides, the man is sitting with his hands behind his back. This is the sitting version of hands on hips. This position portrays the person as someone who is ready for anything. In the final sections of this collage, the positioning of the legs and feet reveal even more about what the person is thinking about. The natural position of the legs is when they are staggered. Although crossed legs may be comfortable for many people, it shows that the person is defensive. Finally, the direction of our feet reveals where we want to go. A confident person should have their feet pointing at the inside of the circle to show that they are engaged and interested in the conversation.
I chose to use Prezi for this collage because I can zoom in on each photo using different frames. The template looks like a stick figure with several arrows pointing at the center. This is to depict how all of these small details combine to form a confident person. One major difficulty I came across when creating this collage is how Prezi is unable to support .GIF files. For example, I could not show how someone would nod during a conversation or how people shift their stance slightly when their thoughts change.
Although body language is silent, it plays a part in our conversations. Most importantly, it shows how confident we are with what we say by revealing our inner thoughts.
All photo credits to their owners.
Interesting idea here!