Arrogance needs you to be smaller. Confidence doesn’t need you at all.

Arrogance runs on comparison, so it needs a room, an audience, and somebody doing worse. Take away the person being outdone and there is nothing left to feel. Confidence works differently because it is not measuring anyone. Someone genuinely sure of themselves can watch you do well and feel nothing but interested.

Run the test on the loud people around you, and then on yourself. After you talk about something you are good at, check whether anyone had to shrink for it to land. If your good day needs someone else’s bad one, that is worth knowing early.