Mastering thought, emotions and behaviour: How acting classes can boost your confidence at work

“Fake it till you make it” – we’ve all heard this advice whispered in office corridors and repeated like a mantra before big presentations. But what if, instead of faking it, you could authentically embody confidence and charisma?

The answer may lie, paradoxically, in the art of acting itself.

Actress, producer and acting coach Kristina Pakhomova, founder of KrisP. Production, which specialises in acting and communications training, explains: “Acting requires you to connect with your body, with yourself – and not just the good parts, but also the dark sides of ourselves. We work a lot on self-acceptance, and learn to accept all parts of ourselves to find our confidence.”

While it may seem counterintuitive to turn to “pretending” to find authenticity, acting is far more than just putting on a mask.

It’s about understanding human behaviour, being in the moment, mastering communication and tapping into genuine emotions, says Kristina. And these are precisely the skills that can transform your presence in the boardroom, at networking events or during that crucial job interview.

Kristina, who began acting and producing theatre performances and films after graduating from LASALLE College of the Arts, shares how acting classes can benefit you as a working adult.

Listening actively to elevate your presence

The workplace is often teeming with expectations, so it’s only natural to feel like you have to be hyper-aware of your appearance and how you conduct yourself.

The downside is that we forget to be present in the moment.

“It’s like when you go on a date, and you’re thinking about how you look or how you sound, how your voice sounds. You aren’t being present,” Kristina says.

One way Kristina helps her clients work through their self-consciousness is by getting them to observe each other in pairs in her acting classes, a practice of the Meisner technique.

The idea is to stay present while observing, paying attention to their partner’s actions, looks and how they express their thoughts, without worrying about how they (the observers) may be perceived.

“You don’t anticipate or prepare your response,” Kristina says. “This helps create real, spontaneous connections, allowing both individuals to simply exist together, encounter each other and build a genuine, vulnerable relationship.”

These are key traits that foster healthier workplace relationships and elevate workplace presence. They are also especially useful for client-facing professionals, like salespeople or doctors, who require strong interpersonal skills.

Acting classes can also teach how to navigate conflict with coworkers and improve social skills like body language, as one of her clients’, a business owner with Asperger’s syndrome, found.

The business owner had trouble reading social cues and facial expressions, always appearing too straightforward and aggressive. Kristina worked with the client on body gestures, breathing and relaxation techniques, role-playing and imitating social settings.

The business owner’s body language and communication skills improved immensely, which helped enhance interactions with clients and coworkers.

Fostering collaboration by finding a ‘team rhythm’

Learning how one can best function in teams is also something Kristina touches on in her group lessons, drawing techniques from the Viewpoints method.

“Viewpoints training builds trust and teaches how to balance individual impulses with the needs of the group,” she explains, demonstrating why acting classes serve as effective team building activities for organisations.

One exercise students do as a group is to walk together, moving forward and backward, expanding and contracting as a circle. The key is to move in unison, using the same tempo, so if one person’s pace increases, the group needs to adjust accordingly.

They do this without verbal communication, relying on observation and listening for subtle sounds.

Kristina says: “The exercise challenges participants to find the group’s collective rhythm, and emphasises the idea of functioning as a single organism, or ensemble. It asks each person to set aside their ego and become part of the whole, encouraging questions like: How do we find the right speed for the group? How do we put aside our individual preferences and act as one?”

For this to work, the participants must be open to suggestions from others and ready to contribute without imposing, Kristina notes. Trust within the group is important, as is the confidence to lead when the moment arises.

“The practice also teaches participants to be in the moment and make decisions without overthinking,” she adds.

From an organisational perspective, learning to observe and respond in real-time enhances spatial awareness and emotional intelligence, fundamentally improving how employees work as a team. They can recognise and confidently adapt to changing dynamics, leading to more effective collaboration.

Managing emotions in the workplace

In today’s fast-paced professional world, stress, anxiety and self-doubt have become unwelcome companions for many. This is a struggle for many of Kristina’s non-actor clients, who came from industries as diverse as banking, consulting, medical and infocomm technology.

A common cause? The tendency to prioritise others at their own expense.

These individuals – professionals ranging from entry-level associates to senior executives and managers – often held back their feelings, fearing judgment and misunderstandings from those around them.

Kristina adds: “There is a lot of people-pleasing happening, and they lose themselves in this process. For example, they are overworking to impress their boss. But they never asked what it is they want.”

She notes that when we try to impress another person, we often hide a part of ourselves that we perceive as negative. We suppress this so-called negative side and the emotions that come with it, or “our dark side”.

Digging deeper, Kristina points out that this tendency often stems from a disconnect between the mind and body – a common phenomenon she observes in individuals navigating the hustle of urban life.

“There is a lot of stimuli around us, so we need to calm down and come back to our body. The body knows what to do,” Kristina explains.

With, for instance, the Michael Chekhov technique, Kristina helps her clients reconnect with their bodies using breath mindfulness work and imagination activation. These help shift their focus from the head to the body and let the body move authentically.

“Once you shift that focus and you start doing the acting exercises, you see that so many things come to the surface,” Kristina says. “Sometimes it’s tears, or it could be laughter or anger. I tell my students that this is a safe place to express themselves; just be whoever you want.”

This enhanced body awareness empowers her clients to build a stronger connection with their feelings.

“The more someone suppresses their emotions, the more physical blocks they develop. This often manifests as tension in the voice, difficulty projecting the voice to be heard and understood, and challenges with breathing,” Kristina notes.

Recalling a yoga teacher who sought her help after struggling with people pleasing, she says: “During the breathing exercise, she found she physically couldn’t do it. We had to do a lot of meditation, visualisation and exercises for her to overcome this.”

By letting our emotions flow, and the physical responses that come with it, we learn to “accept and be kind to ourselves first before sharing that kindness with others”.

This helps us better manage our feelings of stress or worry in the workplace, as we become more aware of our emotional states and can respond to challenges with greater composure.

Kristina adds: “You feel open and relaxed in various work settings; you feel more confident speaking publicly, when presenting face-to-face or on camera, even during interviews.”

Learn more about confidence-boosting acting classes here.