Don’t Waste the First 5 Seconds
1… 2… 3… 4… 5. That’s All It Takes to form for a First Impression.
In just three to five seconds, people begin forming a perception of you, before you have said a single word or even settled into the room. Your presence is already speaking for you, long before your ideas enter the conversation.
Many believe executive presence begins when you start speaking. In truth, it starts the instant you are seen. Research in social psychology confirms that first impressions form within seconds, and your posture, eye contact, and energy establish the tone for everything that follows. Those initial signals don’t just color how people perceive you in that moment. They become the lens through which your ideas, authority, and credibility are evaluated for the rest of the conversation.
That is an incredible amount of influence concentrated into a mere few seconds. It is also a remarkable opportunity.
When you understand how executive presence works before you speak, you can shape it with intention instead of leaving it to chance. So, the question is: does that first impression reflect how you want to show up?
What People See Before They Hear You
In those first 3-5 seconds, people are not evaluating your ideas. They are evaluating your non-verbal cues: how you carry yourself into the room, where you choose to sit, your eye contact, and your posture all communicate a message.
These signals might feel subtle to you, but they speak volumes to others. In my years as an executive coach, I have seen this play out consistently. Leaders who walk in grounded and deliberate are experienced differently from those who rush in, look around for guidance, or fold into themselves the moment they sit down. No real content has been shared, but the people in the room have already formed an impression.
Where you sit matters too. Research shows that leaders who position themselves at the table, at eye level with their peers and counterparts, are perceived as more authoritative and engaged than those who sit along the edges or below the group's sightline. This is not about ego or hierarchy. It’s about the nonverbal signals your body positioning sends before you speak. It communicates whether you believe you belong in the room, and how others respond to that signal—consciously or not.
The Gap Between Intention and Perception
One truth that leaders don’t realize is that what you intend isn't always what others experience. This gap between intention and perception is where executive presence either earns trust or loses it. You might believe you are showing up with clarity and confidence, but others could be reading something entirely different:
Confidence without self-awareness can register as arrogance.
Thoughtfulness, if not conveyed through your body language and vocal tone, can appear as hesitation or disengagement.
Even genuine interest in what someone is saying can be misread if you are not visibly present in the conversation.
I work with accomplished executives, senior leaders, and high-performing professionals who are stunned to see themselves on camera for the first time. They had no idea that they looked uncertain when they felt sure, or guarded when they felt open, or appeared disengaged when they were fully invested. The gap between their internal experience and their external expression was real, and it was costing them credibility they had earned.
This gap is not a reflection of your capability, nor about being inauthentic. Executive presence is a reflection of awareness. It is about developing enough self-knowledge to understand how your actions are being interpreted, and making intentional choices so that your presence genuinely reflects the leader you are. For anyone looking to improve executive presence, closing this gap is the single most important place to start.
What You Wear Communicates Before You Speak
Your presence is shaped not only by how you carry yourself, but also by how you present yourself visually. What you wear communicates your intentions, and it happens whether you are conscious of it or not.
A well-known study by researchers Adam and Galinsky clearly demonstrated this effect. There were two groups of participants. One group was given a white coat to wear, describing it as a doctor’s coat. The other group had no coat at all. The white coat group performed measurably better on tasks requiring sustained attention, and were perceived as more competent, trustworthy, and authoritative by observers, compared to those wearing no coat at all. The clothing itself did not change the person's ability. But it did change how others perceived them, and perhaps equally as important, how they perceived themselves.
This matters for executive presence because how you dress signals intentionality. It shows you understand the room, respect the moment, and take your role seriously. Don’t dress simply to impress others. Dress to reinforce the presence you want to embody, so your external expression aligns with your internal confidence.
A Simple Reset Before High-Stakes Moments
Strengthening your executive presence does not require reinventing how you lead or starting over from scratch. It begins with small, repeatable practices that compound over time into a noticeably different way of showing up.
During my years as a TV broadcast journalist, particularly anchoring breaking news, there was never time to find confidence in the moment. When the red light came on, preparation was over. What I learned instead was how to build my presence before I ever sat down at the desk. I managed my breath, grounded my energy, focused my mind, and became intentional about how I wanted to connect with the audience before the moment demanded it. In many ways, that became the foundation of what I now call the IT Factor: the alignment of your physical, mental, and relational presence. That practice carried me through decades of live television, and it is the same practice I teach executives today. When your internal state and external expression are aligned, you do not have to manufacture confidence. It reads as real because it is.
Before your next important moment, pause and do a brief internal check:
Is your posture grounded and open, or are you carrying tension in your shoulders and chest?
Are you breathing fully, or are you shallow-breathing from the stress of what is ahead?
When you enter the room, are you making deliberate eye contact with the people you are meeting, or scanning for your seat or checking your phone?
The Myth of Being Born with Executive Presence
Let me be clear about this: Executive presence is not something you are born with. It is something you build through awareness, practice, and intentional choices made over time. Your first few seconds set the tone for how your ideas are received, how your voice is heard, and how your leadership is experienced by the people around you. When you become more deliberate about how you show up in those moments, you demonstrate authentic influence and leadership.
This is one of the most accessible aspects of executive presence for any leader who has ever felt that their capabilities did not fully translate into how they were perceived. You do not need a new title. You need a more intentional relationship with how you show up in the seconds before anyone has heard you speak.
So the next time you walk into a room where your leadership matters, take a breath. Pause long enough to make an intentional choice about how you want to show up. Ask yourself: does the presence I am bringing into this room reflect the leader I am becoming? That is where transformation begins—not by chance, but by choice. If the answer is not yet, that is not a problem. That is the practice. And every room you walk into is another opportunity to align your presence with your purpose and become more intentional about the leader you choose to be.
If you enjoyed this blog post, here are some other resources you might enjoy:
My book, Dare To Own You: Taking Your Authenticity and Dreams Into Your Next Chapter, the winner of two Feathered Quill Book awards, a Book Excellence award, and recommended by Forbes in 2022 as “a teaching memoir”.
My work as a keynote speaker, executive coach and communication expert. You can read more about more of myserviceshere.
My podcast, the"Live Your Best Life with Liz Brunner" podcast: An award-winning and internationally streamed show that highlights powerful stories of re-creation and reinvention from guests who have taken their life experiences, and used that knowledge to create their “next chapters” and live their best lives.
Interested in Taking Yourself or Your Executive Team to the Next Level?
Brunner Communications assists high-profile individuals and organizations in sharpening and developing top level business communication, executive presence, and public speaking skills. Our passionate team provides one-on-one executive business coaching, and runs specialized business workshops. Through customized training, clients learn the necessary skills to become great communicators and build a marketable reputation.