Composure is often mentioned as a characteristic of a successful leader. So what do we mean by composure?

It is that calm assuredness that puts your team and your audience at ease in the knowledge that you know what you’re talking about.

If we want to carry an air of composure with us when we’re speaking in public, it needs to start before we even open our mouths. Here are my top tips of how to speak with composure:

1. Gather yourself. Take a moment to gather yourself. Breathe deeper into the body and think about the first thing you’re going to say
2. Be deliberate. When you start to talk, don’t rush. Take your time — be intentional about what you’re saying and let your point land.
3. Use the full stop. When you get to the end of the sentence — don’t rush straight on to the next one. Instead, use that full stop to let the audience have a moment to think about what you’ve said.
4. Don’t be afraid of a brief silence. That moment when you’ve landed a really important point can be completely magical if you let it sit there for a second or two, and maintain eye engagement with the audience. When I’m coaching clients who speak to larger audiences, we work a lot on how to do this. I call it ‘holding the room.’
5. Overall, allow yourself to inhabit your space, confident in the knowledge of your expertise and your right to be there.

Composure is a style and a skill that we can acquire with practice. It’s a skill you can start practising straightaway in any public speaking context — in your next client meeting or when you’re next giving a report to your team or board meeting.

If you’d like me to work on it with you, please get in touch.

This is part of a series of six blogs on how to develop executive presence. To see the other posts in the series, take a look at my blog feed.

Based in Leytonstone, London, UK, Julia Caddick is a dynamic voice and presentation coach with over 30 years of experience in music, theatre, and communication. She helps business leaders, teams, and individuals present themselves and their ideas with clarity, authenticity and impact — both in person and online.