 93% of communication takes place non-verbally. That means only 7% of your message will be expressed by what you say. The rest is communicated through body language. Let's look at the different kinds of body language, starting with the most basic posture. Posture refers to how you stand. You should stand with your feet apart and your weight equally divided over both feet. You should be upright and not slouch. That means bending up like a sack of potatoes. Not only is this bad for the body, producing back problems, it also affects the clarity of your voice. A bent posture restricts your breathing by constricting your chest. Sounds are blocked and your voice won't carry. Apart from this, a bad posture looks slovenly and creates a bad impression. Finally, if you want to appear confident, you must stand well. Be aware of your facial expression. Try not to look miserable, even if you feel it. Don't freeze with fear either. Smile, but don't use a fake smile. If you are genuinely interested in your topic, then you'll want to share it with the audience. This should make you feel happy. Next, try to use gestures. These are the small movements that you make with your hands and arms in order to enhance your words. The important thing is to keep the gestures small. Less is more, and to let them flow naturally from what you say. They should be connected to the thought, not pinned for the sake of it. If you're frozen with fear, your body will be locked and it will be difficult for a gesture to occur. If you can relax and we'll look at this later on, gestures will come naturally. After all, we don't have any problems gesturing in real life and with our bodies relaxed, we won't have any problems gesturing during a presentation. Try to avoid pointing at people in the audience, as this is a rude thing to do in most cultures. Also, don't stand with your hands in your pockets or cross your arms. It's best to stand with your hands loose at your sides. If you feel self-conscious about it, then it's okay to hold your note cards or a pen as long as you don't fiddle with them. This brings me to mannerisms. These are the little idiosyncratic movements that are distracting for other people. Examples are playing with one's hair, touching the ears or nose or wiping one's forehead. All of these become irritating and will detract attention from your talk. Be aware of any mannerisms you may have. Make eye contact with as many people as possible, but don't skim over them. Don't stare either. Neither of these are natural. Try to maintain the kind of eye contact you would in real life. Again, we have no problems when talking to friends and if you regard the audience as friends and not foes, you should have no problems here. Finally, a word about movement. Standing in the same place looks unnatural and becomes boring. On the other hand, it is equally inappropriate to pace about. Rock to or throw or sway from side to side. It may be effective to take a small step to the side when moving to a new section, but this should be done to punctuate a change of thought. You can move slightly towards the audience or towards the screen. Be aware of your movements and avoid overdoing them.