The simplest way to sound more confident

When people think about sounding more confident, they often focus on delivery. They think about eye contact, posture or speaking more slowly. 

Those things can certainly help, but one of the simplest ways to appear more confident is knowing when to stop talking.

Many professionals continue explaining long after their audience has understood the point they're trying to make. This usually happens because they care about accuracy and want to make sure they've been understood, not because they lack expertise.

Ironically, continuing to explain often has the opposite effect. Responses become longer, the key message becomes less memorable and speakers can start to sound less certain. 

One of the reasons this happens is that experts naturally see far more detail than their audience needs. If you've ever wondered why knowledgeable professionals often find it difficult to explain things simply, I've explored this in more detail in 'Why Experts Find It Hard to Explain What They Know'.

If you found this helpful and would like practical frameworks you can use before presentations, meetings and interviews, discover what's included in the Brand Champion Bootcamp.