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Confident Business Executive Power Pose my friend

head up

shoulders back

stomach in

and, more interestingly, in tony’s case: as a wannabe entrepreneur going through training and seminars and stuff, i was personally advised that, if i think my hands might betray lack of confidence (trembling, fidddling with shit, excessive face-touching, etc), i should keep them loosely out of sight or try to talk using them, while compromising chest openness as little as possible (ie, don’t fold your arms across your chest) (which, by the way, tony does A LOT throughout all movies, and it’s a huge huge huge hugE defensiveness/insecurity body language tell, but anyway, that’s a whole other post)

(gifset source)

tony seems to be pretty aware that his hands are the achilles’ heel of his Fake Confidence ™, and indeed 

check out that right hand. if you watch it in the movie, you’ll see that he keeps clenching it and unclenching it

the thing with the hands also places tony’s drinking in a very particular place. some alcoholics do develop the compulsion to not only drink (obviously), but also to physically hold a glass when they are feeling pressured, or [whatever emotion that’s associated with the urge to drink]. smokers might develop a similar thing (think about people who hold unlit cigarettes between their fingers even when they’re trying to stop)

(Kill Me, he doesn’t let go even when they’re being attacked. he actually holds on tighter, Kill Me)

also, this stance seems to be particularly prominent in avengers movies, which implies that this is where tony’s felt the most conscious urge to deliberately project confidence