The Mel Robbins Podcast - Body Language Expert: 6 Psychological Tricks to Turn Awkwardness into Confidence

Do you want to know how to talk to anyone with ease and confidence? In this episode, you will learn science-backed psychological tricks to be more successful, charismatic, and influential today. Today, Mel is bringing back one of the most tactical and empowering conversations ever on The Mel Robbins Podcast, with a brand-new introduction and new insights for right now. Vanessa Van Edwards is a behavioral researcher, bestselling author, and the founder of Science of People, a behavior lab that studies high achievers and the science of confidence, charisma, communication, and body language. She also teaches at Harvard University’s Professional and Executive Development program. Her research shows that your body is communicating before you ever say a word. And with a few simple changes, you can start showing up with more confidence immediately. You’ll learn exactly what to do with your shoulders, your hands, your voice, and even where you stand in a room so you feel less awkward and more powerful. You’ll also learn why some conversations feel effortless while others fall flat, how highly influential people communicate differently, and the small psychological cues that can help you connect with almost anyone. In this episode, you’ll learn: -The best place to stand at a networking event if you do not know anyone -Why standing near the entrance is one of the worst places to meet people -The conversation starter that never works -How where you sit at work can boost - or hurt - your productivity -The A-B-C-D exercise that can help you work with your strengths, protect your energy, and prevent burnout Whether you want to become a better leader, make new friends, land the job, or simply feel more confident in the moments that matter, you’ll leave this episode with practical tools you can start using immediately. For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page. If you liked the episode, check out this one next: How to Talk to Difficult People: Proven Strategies to Stop Arguments & Feel Connected Again Connect with Mel: Order Mel’s product, Pure Genius Protein Get Mel’s newsletter, packed with tools, coaching, and inspiration. Get Mel’s #1 bestselling book, The Let Them Theory Watch the episodes on YouTube Follow Mel on Instagram The Mel Robbins Podcast Instagram Mel's TikTok Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes ad-free Disclaimer

Duration: 1h 29m
Broadcast on: 26 Sep 2026
Audio Format: other

Do you want to know how to talk to anyone with ease and confidence?

In this episode, you will learn science-backed psychological tricks to be more successful, charismatic, and influential today.

Today, Mel is bringing back one of the most tactical and empowering conversations ever on The Mel Robbins Podcast, with a brand-new introduction and new insights for right now.

Vanessa Van Edwards is a behavioral researcher, bestselling author, and the founder of Science of People, a behavior lab that studies high achievers and the science of confidence, charisma, communication, and body language. She also teaches at Harvard University’s Professional and Executive Development program.

Her research shows that your body is communicating before you ever say a word.

And with a few simple changes, you can start showing up with more confidence immediately.

You’ll learn exactly what to do with your shoulders, your hands, your voice, and even where you stand in a room so you feel less awkward and more powerful.

You’ll also learn why some conversations feel effortless while others fall flat, how highly influential people communicate differently, and the small psychological cues that can help you connect with almost anyone.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

-The best place to stand at a networking event if you do not know anyone

-Why standing near the entrance is one of the worst places to meet people

-The conversation starter that never works

-How where you sit at work can boost - or hurt - your productivity

-The A-B-C-D exercise that can help you work with your strengths, protect your energy, and prevent burnout

Whether you want to become a better leader, make new friends, land the job, or simply feel more confident in the moments that matter, you’ll leave this episode with practical tools you can start using immediately.

For more resources related to today’s

episode, click here for the podcast episode page.

If you liked the episode, check out this one next: How to Talk to Difficult People: Proven Strategies to Stop Arguments & Feel Connected Again

Connect with Mel:

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Hey, it's your friend, Mel, and welcome to the Male Robbins Podcast. Oh, my gosh, you are going to love this episode today, because today you're going to learn how to use body language and six psychological tricks that can help you turn awkwardness, shyness, self-doubt, insecurity into confidence, and you will love our expert today because she is a behavioral researcher. She teaches at Harvard University's Professional and Executive Development Program. She's a New York Times bestselling author, and she spent two decades sharing what you're about to learn today. Her research proves that your body is communicating something before you ever say a word. And when you understand how to use your body to communicate the right things, everything changes. Today you're going to learn simple body language cues that will help you communicate more confidence immediately. For example, exactly where you need to stand when you walk in the room and you don't know anyone. What to do with your hands when you're speaking? How to carry yourself before meeting a date, a presentation, or an important conversation? After today, you're going to know the six psychological tricks that you can use so you can start building real confidence, communicate with more power, and show up like the person you want to be. When I think of fall, I think of a couple of things. I think of the first school drop off, the first sweater weather day, the first chilly evening around the fire pit, and our sponsor LL Bean. For over a hundred years, LL Bean has been part of these traditions, crunching leaves and mane-made bean boots, cheering from the sidelines and scotch plaid flannel, and walking the dog in a rugged field coat. Go grab the layers you love and the people you love and get outside. Visit LL Bean dot com to shop the fall collection. LL Bean, be an outsider. The Mel Robbins podcast is brought to you by Expedia. I love Expedia because I love traveling and here's the thing. You may be holding off on booking a trip right now because you think you need the whole plan to come together. But guess what? You don't. With Expedia's bundle and save, the more you book, the more you can save. You get up to 30% off every time you add something and then you add more later. Expedia, the one place you go to go places, sign in to save on select bookings. The Mel Robbins podcast is proudly sponsored by Amiga Insurance, our exclusive insurance partner. You know how good it feels when someone makes your life easier? Oh, I just love those kind of people. That's why I love Amiga. They go the extra mile in the moments you need at most, listening, following up and treating you like a real human being. And because they're a mutual insurer, the whole model is built around putting customers first. It's refreshing. It's rare. It's coverage with empathy and it's exactly how insurance should feel.

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