Word-Of-the-Week #936: Swagger
July 14, 2022 by Susan Clarke
Swagger – to walk with a lofty proud gait.
Today I am celebrating the 18th anniversary of my WOW’s! Time sure feels like it’s flying by so fast.
Do you know anyone who you think has swagger? Someone who can enter a room and command it. Some who radiates confidence.
I picked this word because I have heard it used in the media a couple of times lately, and I just like the word. I love golf and while I was watching the Travelers Championship, they referred to Sahith Theegala as having swagger.
This excerpt is from “5 Telltale Signs that You Have Swagger,” by Leslie Ehm.
“Let’s be real — we all wish that we could have that elusive thing called ‘swagger’. We marvel at those who can walk into a room and instantly command it. Their confidence radiates off them in waves, they seem so effortlessly sure of themselves, and no one seems able to resist their peacock charisma.
“Man,” we say “if only I could look that bulletproof.”
If you Google ‘How can I come across as more confident?” you’ll find over 16,000,000 results including 7 Ways to Look Really Confident (Even When You’re Not), 7 Conversational Tricks to Appear More Confident, and How to Fake Being More Confident When You’re Just Not Feeling It.
Why are we so obsessed with looking badass even if we have to lie about it?
- Does Swagger Matter?
There’s tons of research reinforcing the almighty power of a confident persona. Just one example is a University of Sussex study that recently proved that the “brain is wired to allow confident people to influence our beliefs.” Holy crap! Does that make the opposite true as well? No confidence = no credibility = no power of persuasion??
No wonder there’s so much focus around developing a swagger-y persona.
Sahith Theegala
- Redefining Swagger
The formal definition of swagger isn’t terribly flattering. “To walk or behave in a very confident and typically arrogant or aggressive way. Synonyms include; boast, brag, bluster, crow, gloat.
Why would anyone want that? Instead, wouldn’t it be great if we could just walk into any situation being exactly who we are, and genuinely put hand on heart and say “I got this”. Even more importantly, confidently say to others “I got you” and know it was true. That’s my kinda swagger.
So here’s my re-definition.
Swagger is the manifestation and acceptance of who you actually are and the ability to keep that ‘self’ intact as it surfaces through all the psychological crap that tries to suppress it — regardless of the environment.
It’s badass-ness in the most human sense. Swagger has got nothing to do with being either perfect or right. It’s far more related to self-acceptance than it is to self-assuredness.”
This excerpt is from PSYBLOG, “This Way Of Walking Makes You Look Twice As Attractive. The magical formula for beauty could be in your walk.”
“Attractiveness is about more than just body shape and facial features — it is also about the way people move.
Women who sway their hips while walking increase their perceived attractiveness by 50%, research finds.
Men who walk with swagger in their shoulders more than doubled the perception of their attractiveness.
Swagger involves dipping the shoulders slightly with each step to create a rolling motion.”
This week is all about swagger. How confident are you? How would you rate yourself on self-acceptance? Do you feel comfortable walking into any situation being exactly who you are?
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