The 2-Second Rule for Appearing More Confident

Personally, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with confidence hacks and quick tips.

On one hand, they can be incredibly effective for appearing more confident in certain situations. However, they don't fix the root causes of having low confidence. For that reason, I'm generally hesitant to teach them in my content. Instead, I normally focus on the bigger picture, tackling the real problems standing in the way of building genuine confidence.

That said, with the right expectation confidence hacks can be pretty useful!

I just published this video on the 2-Second Rule for appearing more confident:

The premise is the following:

If we're in a situation like a job interview or a first date, our instinct is often to fill any silences and to immediately jump in to answer. However, this often leads to nervous rambling because we try to think and talk at the same time. The answer to this issue is to realize that it's perfectly fine to let some silences fall in the conversation, even when it's commonly considered "awkward".

Hence, the 2-Second Rule:

Allow yourself one or two seconds of silence to think things through. Make eye contact and then answer calmly after having thought of it.

By doing this, you look more composed and thoughtful. It shows that you don't have trouble with "awkward silences" which is something that nervous people often struggle with. You avoid rambling, which is obviously a good thing. Finally, you'll be able to give better answers and more thoughtful responses, which also have people perceive you in a better light.

Cheers,
Maikel