You were prepared. Your thoughts were clear, your delivery was solid, and your boss still handed the next project to someone else. No one was rude about it, and nobody had to be. A 2015 study in Psychological Science found that people judge dominance and competence based almost entirely on nonverbal cues, and those judgments predicted real outcomes, including who got hired in simulated job evaluations. How confident you feel has very little to do with how confident you appear. Here’s what actually does. Videos by VICE 1. Shrinking Your Physical Space Under pressure, the body contracts. Arms cross, spine curves, shoulders rise. It’s a stress response. A 2015 study in Psychological Science found that everyone around you reads those contractions as low status and low confidence, automatically, before you’ve said a word. Fixing it takes about ten seconds. Uncross your arms. Sit up straight. Drop your shoulders. Small stuff, but it changes what people see. 2.…