The body language technique I am about to explain can change your life and enhance your career enormously. You have never heard of it before, nor will you ever hear of it again. At first, you might think I am insane, but you are about to learn how to appear intelligent, powerful, and dynamic using your feet.
The key is first to become aware of the proper way to stand and then to master this technique so that you can use it when it is crunch time. How rare is the knowledge you are about to learn? Almost nobody else on Earth has ever even contemplated this so that you will have an advantage over the other 6,987,000,000 people on Earth!
Everyone understands the power and importance of good eye contact, but nobody understands the critical role of their feet. When standing in the presence of others, your feet should never move when standing still.
Do Not Move Your Lower Body
The real goal is not to move anything from your waist down. Your hips should not move a millimeter! You can move your head, arms, and hands, but you must strive to have complete stillness from the waist down!
If you crunch your big toes to the floor, you will not be able to move anything!
Standing still is incredibly hard to do, and only the best communicators do it, and yet if you merely crunch your big toes, you will always be perfectly still from the waist down. Now please realize that you do not do this technique all the time! You do it when it is crunch time. If you need to look impressive, powerful, intelligent, and persuasive, then it is crunch time. You do not crunch your toes if you are moving, but when standing still, keep still from the waist down, and the key is in the feet.
Human beings are terrified to speak before a group, but they are also nervous when communicating one on one. When you are worried, you will:
1. Shift your weight back and forth from one foot to another.
2. Sway your hips as if you are Elvis Presley singing ‘Jailhouse Rock.’
3. Raise your heels off the ground, shifting your weight to your tip-toes.
This movement is hugely distracting, and the more you do it, and the longer it persists, the more your credibility goes down. Not only is it distracting, but you appear nervous, lacking confidence, and people will perceive that you do not want to be there or that you have something to hide.
I also attempt to keep my feet straight. Straight feet is not an absolute must, but most people tend not even to come close to keeping their feet straight. People do this subconsciously so they can make a quick exit. Be conscious that when you are standing still that you should try and keep your feet reasonably straight.
Men tend to keep their feet too far apart, and women often keep their feet close together. Generally, try and keep your feet not too far apart, but not to close either. You need to maintain the right balance, and your feet are one of your best communications tools.
Believe it or not, it is the feet that distinguish the great speakers from the good.
Foot Position and Toe Crunching
Let me now describe the Toe Crunch technique in detail because there is more to this than you first realize. Imagine that you are barefoot and that two bugs crawled under your big toes. Crunch both of your big toes as if you are smashing these bugs into the ground. Sometimes I press down lightly, and other times I press down so hard that it feels like my toes are about to break. I will explain why.
When to Slightly Crunch Your Toes
Just by slightly crunching your big toes, it makes it nearly impossible to move from the waist down. You cannot shift your weight from side to side. Both feet remain perfectly still, and your weight distributes evenly. You cannot lift your heels and move to your tip-toes, and your hips will not move a millimeter. You are locked and loaded with the perfect stance with a straightforward move. It will not be comfortable to try and do two things at once, such as crunch and have a conversation, but the benefits are incredible, and your potential is now limitless.
Would a King or Queen shuffle their feet? Would a CEO sway back and forth? Then why are you moving around like you have got ants in your pants? You do it for these reasons:
You did not realize you were doing it.
You are a fidgety person.
It feels comfortable.
You just want to be yourself, and in business, that can be a big mistake.
You did not know it is a problem.
Become aware and then do something about it because lower body movement is what separates the good communicators from the great ones. I use it in my teaching, speaking, acting, videos, in meetings, and my one-on-one communications. When I enter my business mode and interact with customers, I do not move my feet!
If you do not want to improve your persona by 1000%, then just keep on dancing! They do say that rock-n-roll will never die, but unfortunately, your credibility will be singing the blues. There is nothing wrong with being nervous, but there is something wrong with showing it.
When to Crunch Your Toes Extremely Hard
This technique allows you to be the only one in the room that is aware that you are nervous. The incredible thing about having the ability to mask your nervousness is that it makes you less nervous! It is like swimming with a lifeguard.
Nervousness is something that you cannot control. There will be times you should be nervous, and you are not, and there are other times when you should not be nervous, and you are. But having a technique that allows you to mask your nervousness is worth its weight in gold. It gives me the ability to be successful, no matter whether I am nervous or not. We call that peace of mind in a stressful and competitive business market!
Now get ready for part two for when you crunch your toes hard. You do this when you are so nervous that you feel like you are about to jump out of your shoes! When some people give a presentation, they have so much tension that they do horrible things such as grip the podium, cross their arms, always sway back and forth, or even worse continually, click and unclick their pen. Nervous habits are a way of releasing the tension, and it kills a presentation. When you crunch your big toes down hard, you release all tension in the one place nobody sees, and that is the bottom of your feet. Plus, you keep your feet and lower body completely still.
Crunching your big toes gives you the thrill of victory and the still of de-feet!
I am not suggesting that you should not move. You can walk across the room or take a step towards your slides or lean towards one person, but it is vital that when you are standing still that you stand completely still. So, un-crunch your toes when you need to move and crunch them again when you stop.
The only bad news is that now that you are aware of this technique, you are going to notice how much unnecessary movement everyone else has. Not you, though! You will crunch your toes and be the most professional-looking person in the room! Remember! Until you become an expert, you can crunch your toes when it is crunch time!
The next time you see your favorite actor, speaker, singer, performer, boss, teacher, waiter, or waitress, you just might happen to notice how still they are from the waist down. Hey, they are comfortable in their shoes! Be still, crunch those toes, and look like a professional! Instead of putting your best foot forward, make sure your weight distributes evenly. Don’t shuffle your feet and lose your seat…on the board of directors! Implement this technique, and the ground is the limit!
Watch the speaking phenomenon Carling Nolan speak and notice the stillness of her feet. You will not see her body shifting left and right. You will not see her bouncing up and down. You will see a charismatic speaker who is firmly planted on the ground.
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