Earlier this year, I contributed to a Woman & Home article about positive body language and how it can boost your confidence—Can positive body language boost your confidence? Find out what the experts think. In a similar vein, in this article, I share the secrets to appearing confident through positive body language, eye contact and voice, and equally as important, how to use your body to feel more confident.

Typically, when we ask a question, inflexion occurs at the end of the question, in other words, our pitch raises. The problem is, sometimes people make a statement with an inflexion, often referred to as up-speak. This makes the statement sound like a question or that the speaker is questioning their own words. Find out how this can be detrimental and how to quit the up-speak habit.

Fillers in conversation, like ‘um’ and ‘er’, tend to be viewed negatively. However, there’s plenty of evidence that they serve a valuable purpose during communication. In this article, we’ll look at some of the suggested meanings behind these discourse markers, with the aim of breaking negative connotations. If you’re aware of your use of these utterances and are concerned about how you use them, hopefully, I can put you at ease.

Just because someone speaks, it doesn’t mean they will be heard. Unfortunately, some people feel like their comments and verbal contribution go unheard–they might be physically heard and even acknowledged, but they aren’t given much attention. This article shares five simple vocal tips to help you be heard, captivate your audience and gain influence.