Vanessa Van Edwards explains how people judge your confidence in 200 milliseconds. Start your first ten words in your lowest natural tone and avoid question inflection, which makes you sound nervous. Liars often use question inflection without realizing it, triggering listeners to scrutinize instead of trust.
I always make sure that my first 10 words, I say them in the lowest natural tone that I have without a question inflection. Research has found that someone decides how confident we are within 200 milliseconds of hearing someone speak. One of the mistakes that leaders use when they sense nervousness is they begin to question. We don't like leaders who question. We want our leaders to tell us. We want our leaders to be confident what they say. So question inflection sounds like this. I'm so happy to be here. My name is Vanessa Van Edwards. Excited to be back. I'm actually hearing people use that tone right now. It makes me uncomfortable. Why? Because liars accidentally use the question inflection. Liars often practice the verbal content, but they don't practice the vocal content. And so they ask their lie. When we hear an accidental question inflection, it changes how we listen. We go from listening to scrutinizing. As a leader, you need to make sure you're not asking your name. You're not asking your opening line. You're not asking your statements. You're not asking your mission. You are stating. And that is very contagious.
