A couple of recent articles I found useful:
Executive Presence: What Is It, Why You Need It And How To Get It – A Forbes.com article, with seven very practical suggestions.
My favorite observation from the article: “Many people make the mistake of believing that looking frantically busy indicates their value to the organization. It doesn’t — it just indicates that they’re frantically busy, and perhaps that they can’t be trusted with any more responsibility.”
9 Tips for Women Leaders to Convey Executive Presence – A blog post by Amy Tez, with more of a hippy-chick take on executive presence. It includes some simple, specific ideas – for both women AND men. But, please do not believe her when she says: “It doesn’t matter whether you decide to power-dress or wear a hoodie with glitter boots.” LOL
My favorite suggestion from the article: “Silence is an incredibly powerful tool and should never be underestimated… A well-chosen pause also allows the listener to digest your message… you give yourself the opportunity to assess your listeners’ behaviour. When you do that, you can tailor your words and actions accordingly …”