Leveraging Physical Posture for Presence
There is no doubt that the use of the body creates a significant impression. In fact, it’s 55% of our total first impression of a person. But posture is more than how you stand and how you look. It’s an awareness of how you use your body, and ultimately using it in a settled and open way that conveys a sense of confidence and credibility. People who define presence as “you can just tell when someone enters a room,” or “they really own the room,” or “they seem comfortable in their own skin,” are all responding to the physical nature of presence.
The truth is a portion of presence is purely visual. Some people consider visual image to be the superficial part. But people notice how you put yourself together. Visual image has gotten a little complicated with casual work environments, but, ironically, the more relaxed the environment, the more the leaders stand out. People with presence are deliberate about how they look and what they wear.
My coaching advice for you is to be intentional. When you get dressed in the morning for an important meeting or event, be sure that what people see is exactly the image or impression
you want to make. Among all the coaching steps and techniques around presence, visual image is the easiest adjustment to make. Yet, one out of every ten coaching engagements we take on
has a visual image element. It’s surprising to me that people don’t take it seriously. But this is an area of awareness and feedback that is seldom addressed. If you don’t explore this for
yourself, it is not likely that anyone will help you with it. Visual image feedback ranks high on the list of things managers and executives avoid in feedback sessions.
One executive told me recently that she stepped in to offer visual image feedback to a young woman who was skipped over for promotion. Senior managers felt she wasn’t taken seriously
and didn’t come across as knowledgeable. The truth was they didn’t feel she made a good first impression. When the executive gave her the feedback the woman said, “I can’t believe
I’ve been with this company for ten years and no one has ever told me to change the way I dress.”
We could all use an evaluation of how we present ourselves. Consider it your visual image check-up. Even with clients who dress well, I recommend having two or three “great image
looks” that you know work well and you can rely on for the big moments. Make sure that you are fully taking advantage of your visual image.
