Signs of submission in humans communicate that the speaker is lowering one’s own status in comparison to the others.

Men mostly use submissive signals in social settings, while women can use submissiveness signals in both social and dating settings (see: signs she likes him).

Submissive signals are not bad per se.

They are an integral and natural part of communication and, when used strategically, they can also be part of a long-term strategy of power.

However, too many verbal signals of submission will make it impossible for men and women to meet their true potential in life.

So it’s best to become aware of them, and only deploy them when they are strictly necessary.

Let’s see what these submissive signs are:

#1. Defensiveness

Defensiveness is indeed a recurring pattern of submissive people.

In verbal expressions of dominance, we saw that dominant individuals take the judge role, pose questions, lead, control the frame, and, potentially, attack.

Well, the submissive individual does the opposite.

He answers, justifies, and defends.

Submissive people fall into this trap because they feel that their destiny is in the dominant men’s hands, and they need to win their approval and/or their forgiveness by defending and justifying.

1.1. Justifying

Imagine this dialogue:

Authority: You knew it was forbidden didn’t you

Submissive Person: Yes I knew it, I’m sorry

Authority: Then why did you do it

Submissive Person: Well, I was thinking that it was OK after all because in this case there was an exception, because basically what happened is that…

“Submissive person” in the above dialogue is defending and justifying himself.

Both the words and the length of the answer denote submissiveness and lack of confidence (see more in “skills for career advancement“).

Notice that “person” might be guilty. Or he might not. But simply by retreating, defending, and justifying, he is behaving like he’s guilty and everyone around will think of him as guilty -or weak-.

A more dominant way of handling that conversation would be the following:

Authority: You knew it was forbidden didn’t you

Person: Yes I knew it

Authority: Then why did you do it

Person: I’m not sure why. I just did it and it was a mistake (I apologize to everyone involved)

Or to deliver a barb to your inquisitor you could say:

Person: I’m not sure the how the why will help us. I’ve done it, it’s in the past, and now I know it was a mistake. I apologize to everyone involved and it won’t happen again. This is what I will do to make up for it…

Much more powerful.

Even with the apology, it’s much more powerful. You own it and you don’t defend yourself.

Notice that “apologizing to everyone involved” is a social finessing power move.

Instead of apologizing to the person who is cornering you, which will give him a lot of power and authority, you are instead apologizing “to everyone involved”, thus not deferring to him.

Very shrewd, very effective.

1.2. “Just… ”

“I Just meant.. “, “I just wanted to say…”

Just is the keyword of the defensiveness and it’s akin to asking for forgiveness.

“I didn’t mean to offend you, I just wanted to fix a mistake”.

1.3. “What”

(long nonverbal pause) “what”

Do you remember that dominant individuals withstand social pressure and create tension?

Well, the submissive party tries to release that social tension.

Especially when the most dominant party seems angry or judgmental, the more submissive party will defend himself and release tension by re-engaging verbally.

“What” in that contexts communicates something like “what have I done wrong now”.

Here is an example from the movie “Beautiful Girls”:

“What” gives to the group of friends power over him (the power of judging his actions).

A more assertive and socially powerful individual would have flipped the scripts instead and imposed his frame, which might have been something like “what the hell is wrong with you guys”.

#2. Insecurity

As much as submissive individuals look physically tentative and insecure, so does their verbal production reflect a lack of conviction, clarity, and confidence.

Read this section attentively: these issues plague the majority of people and removing them will skyrocket your social power.

#2.1. Filler Words

Filler words are expressions such as “ehm”, “uhmm”, “well…”.

Filler words come naturally to most of us.

But “natural” doesn’t mean “good”, and we should all get rid of them.

Watch this judge Judy video several times until you also start hating filler words. Or join a Toastmasters where they use a clacker to highlight filler words.

It’s time well spent: getting rid of filler words will do miracles to make you a more credible, authoritative, and powerful figure. If you can’t join a TM, then you need to become aware of your own usage.

Go “damn!” in your head every time you use one of these hideous sounds. That will help you become aware and once your awareness precedes the sound, then you will be able to swap the filler word with a pause.

Here as an example from Margin Call:

Also notice his words going up at the end of the sentence.

This is an issue that plagues many people who could otherwise be confident and powerful.

But you can’t look confident and powerful until you get rid of your filler words. Make filler words a priority.

Here is an example of a public speech without filler words where most people, including me in the past, would have used filler words. After I trained myself to remove them, I come across far more influential and compelling.

#2.2. Tail Filler Words

There is no existing expression for this signal of insecurity, so “tail filler words” is an expression that I made up -and to which I claim rights for :)-.

But even though an expression for it doesn’t exist, sure does the phenomenon of adding filler words at the end of a sentence exists.

They are utterances such as “ah”, “ok” or, as they do in Germany “ja”. It sounds terrible and like you don’t believe in what you’re saying.

He looks solid overall but he loses points right off the bat because his sentence didn’t need any “OK” (first few seconds).

An example of tail filler words is also ending sentences with “or… “.

#2.3. Lowering Expectations

“Guys, maybe this is silly, but… “.

How would you feel if I prefaced my paragraphs with those words?

Certianly you wouldn’t think I know what I’m talking about, or that I am worth being listened to.

That’s what lowering expectaitons does: it decreases your authority.

Submissive individuals fear social judgment and fear looking bad.

Thus, they preface their ideas and opinions with words that predict failure, so that if they do fail indeed, they at least soften the blow (or so they think).

Similar submissive expressions which signal insecurity are:

Insecure Person: I’m not an expert, but… “ Insecure Person: I hope this is not completely stupid…

Real Life Check: Exception

Advanced communicators can use similar expressions to draw more attention to what they are about to say.

So if you have a good reputation, authority and social status in a group, you can use it strategically.

Lowering Expectations Give Away Judge Powers

Lowering expectations says this:

I am afraid you will judge me poorly, so I do it first

Lowering expectations gives away power, and also gives away the judge role.

Sometimes you can see this behavior in women right before a date -especially if from online dating-.

They try to manage down expectations by telling they don’t look good, they’re fat, or that they dressed poorly for the day.

But this behavior only makes them come across as insecure. “Managing expectations down” can work, but it must be done more subtly and in person.

I understand where it comes from: people are worried about being negatively judged and if they can lower expectations then they can also more easily blow past those expectations -and get their dopamine fix by being accepted, liked and being told “nooo, you’re beautiful”-.

I get it, it’s normal.

But it’s one of those situations where “normal” works against us.

This behavior only makes us come across as insecure.

And “managing expectations down” rarely results in beating those expectations.

It more often results in making us come across as more insecure and, overall, lower value.

I said something uplifting that made her feel good, but in truth, I was respecting her less and less

#2.4. Emotional Over-Reactions

Overreacting shows signs of nervousness, unease and over-dependence on the more dominant individual.

Furthermore, people who overreact show they don’t have control over their own minds.

Powerful individuals instead take care of dominating their own minds first and foremost (read: Ultimate Power).

Here’s an example from the Godfather:

Because she raises her voice you might think that she is dominant.

Raising her voice is a sign indeed that she is not fully submissive and she is trying to reject his brother’s authority.

But getting so worked up also shows her weakness: she needs to aggress to defend herself, which tells us that his brother is getting to her.

And when someone can easily get to you, it means that they are very important to you (likely, they hold soft power in the form of a judge and you need their positive opinion).

Another example of an overreaction is when a submissive individual is being scolded, maybe unfairly, by someone they respect a lot and they just can’t wait to jump in to defend themselves.

Relationships:

Men who are relationship leaders will see it a lot from their girlfriends. When you are unhappy or explaining to her why you’re disappointed she will jump in to justify herself before you can even finish your sentences.

Over-reaction Quiz

Look at this scene for twenty seconds, and ask yourself: who is the least socially powerful in the group?

It’s the lieutenant who says “Jesus”.

He is the only one who overreacts to the bad news, coming across as the most fearful. Then he darts his eyes around looking for other people’s reactions.

#2.5. Upward Inflection (Upspeak)

An upward inflection, or “going up at the end of the sentences” is very feminine, but not necessarily in a positive way.

If you’re a woman you can keep it a little as it’s attractive to some men. But scrap it completely at work and whenever you need authority and credibility.

Here is a good example of upward inflection from the movie Bridesmaids.

The very first moment, when she introduces her friend she goes up with the words “Danny” and “Becca”

Also read:

#2.6. Trailing Off

This one says that you don’t really believe in yourself and you’re afraid that people might disagree with you’re just about to say (ie.: fear of judgment).

You will see a lot when an insecure individual starts to say something, then notices that people aren’t really listening and instead of increasing his intensity to get their attention, he gives up and trails off.

Here is an example from “The Wolf of Wall Street”, the Swiss banker scene:

Notice how he also ends with a slight smile -friendly submissive signal- and a nod.

As if to say “OK I’m done, you leaders can take over now”.

#2.7. Passive Aggressive Attacks

“Passive-aggressive attack” might sound like an oxymoron, but it exists.

It’s a pattern I have noticed and that I have not read anywhere else so, again, it doesn’t have a standardized name.

So here it is just for you, an exclusive from The Power Move :).

Submissive people are afraid of cornering others, even when they are right.

So they use utterances such as “come on” and an abundance of filler words to “keep the pressure on”.

But their way of keeping the pressure on is low in power, and delivered with many submissive cues.

I could not find any good video for this, but it’s important because I have seen it from many different people it’s difficult to explain with just words.

So here’s me doing an interpretation of a passive-aggressive attack:

What’s the alternative?

The alternative is to state your point resolutely and assertively. Rinse and repeat if needed, but no “come on”, no upward inflection, and no filler words.

#3. Lack of Leadership & Direction

Submissive people look insecure because, often, they themselves don’t know what they want.

And when they know it, they still submit their will to that of the leader or to that of the group, so they end up looking like they don’t know what they want.

3.1. Verbal Flip-Flop

Verbal flip flop means going from yes to no and spending a lot of time “uhm-ming” in the middle without making a final decision.

Why do submissive individuals engage in more verbal flip-flopping?

Because they don’t answer based on reality or based on what they believe in. Submissive people seek to provide an answer that the group will accept and/or that the dominant individual wants to hear.

Hence, especially in tense exchanges, submissive individuals tentatively guess what they should answer. They say something, then look for cues in the environment.

And if they don’t get any, they switch opinions back and forth waiting for some encouragement from the environment.

In this scene from “Reality Bites”, Ben Stiller shows all his insecurity by going back and forth on such a simple decision as to whether or not the waitress can take his dish.

Ben Stiller shows insecurity by flip-flopping on such a simple decision as to whether or not the waitress can take his dish.

Watch the whole video, and you will notice much tentative language: it’s because he is not sure what he should say to gain her approval.

That’s where a strong leadership would have helped the seduction.



PRO TIP: How to Become More Decisive

Sometimes it’s not that we are being submissive, but that we aren’t even sure ourselves. What you can do then is to pause to think for a second about what you want, then make your final decision.

In the above example, you would tell the waitress: “one moment” and take two seconds to think.

If you’re still not sure, keep the status quo to give you even more time to think about it and tell her “thank you, I’m not done yet”.

If you’re with someone, you can ask them first to take their opinion into account. Asking and taking other people’s opinions into account is a very leader-like behavior and it will also give you some more time to collect your thoughts and more inputs to reach an even better decision.

3.2. “They Said…“

Try saying the following sentences aloud:

they said I could it

they allowed me

they told me

How do they all sound to you?

All these words broadcast to the world that you don’t have any power yourself.

Notice Trump using first “we” and then “they”.

Notice how different it feels when he moves from “we” to “they”.

He doesn’t sound too presidential using “they”, does he?

Probably Trump is trying to detach himself from the problem and doesn’t want to make big statements about what he fears he cannot accomplish.

But don’t fall for that: leaders must take the responsibility upon themselves, even when the problem has no easy solution. Especially when the problem has no easy solution.

The passive form makes it only worse, such as:

I was told I have been instructed I have been tasked with..

Real Life Check:

Of course there will be plenty of situations in life where you are indeed instructed or told what to do.

And that’s fine.

But if you keep speaking (and thinking) like you have no agency whatsoever in life, you will keep having no agency whatsoever.

Even if you were told, instructed, or tasked, take ownership of those tasks. Nobody put a gun to your head, so you also elected that those tasks are fair and moral enough that you can execute them.

So now they are your tasks.

You are doing, you need others to, you want to.

#4. Fear of Punishment

Part of submissive individuals’ verbal woes is that they are overly-afraid of punishment from the group or from the most dominant individuals.

And that reflects poorly on their verbal communication.

The following showcase a fear of punishment:

4.1. “Come on… “

Come on is the verbal equivalent of sticking your hands out, palm up, and beg.

When people have no power to enforce resolutions and no courage to mount a serious challenge they resort to “come on-ning”.

In Scarface Frank, with no leverage and no power whatsoever shows you both the “come on” and the tail filler words combo:

“come on you listen to me ah“.

That “ah” is a tail filler word. It serves no purpose if not to prop up his own sagging courage.

4.2. Passive Aggressive Attack, Then U-Turn

Much of passive-aggressive behavior stems from fear of confrontation, fear of engaging, fear of ruining the relationship and, of course, fear of the dominant and assertive individual.

When submissive people get annoyed by more dominant individuals they might push back first.

But then get scared they pushed too much and keep adding more words to soften the blow and fill the uncomfortable silences.

Especially so if the more dominant individual puts his foot down.

Here is a great example from the movie Fargo:

He first explodes -at least for his usual standards of behavior- and then spends the rest of the interaction trying to defend his own behavior with a slew of passive aggression.

Persistence, Pressure & Power

This is a crucial aspect of learning power dynamics.

But to leave some for the customers, this one is available on Power University only.

This is an excerpt from Power University.

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