Hold the eye line
The look is loud, so the gaze can afford to be steady rather than performative. Direct eye contact held a beat longer than comfortable is what makes the aesthetic read as deliberate.
Say less
Over-explaining is the opposite of the register. Short answers, no justification, no filling the silence. This is the part people find hardest and it changes how the rest lands.
Softness with edges
A boundary delivered gently is still a boundary. "That doesn't work for me" in a warm tone does more than the same sentence delivered sharply, and it stays in character.
