Power Poses:

People are often more influenced by how they feel about you rather than by what you’re saying.

According to Harvard Business School professor Amy Cuddy, holding your body in “high-power” poses for short time periods can summon an extra surge of power (through increased testosterone) andsense of well-being (through lower levels of cortisol).

“We used to think that emotion ended on the face,” Dr. Cuddy says. “Now there is established research showing that while it’s true that facial expressions reflect how you feel, you can also ‘fake it until you make it.’ In other words, you can smile long enough (two minutes) that it makes you feel happy. This work extends that finding on facial feedback, which is decades old, by focusing on postures and measuring neuroendocrine levels.”

“We are influenced, and influence others, through very unconscious and implicit processes,” she says.

“People tend to spend too much energy focusing on the words they’re saying—perfectly crafting the content of the message—when in many cases that matters much less than how it’s being communicated. People often are more influenced by how they feel about you than by what you’re saying. It’s not about the content of the message, but how you’re communicating it.”

“Don’t fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it.”

Dr. Cuddy found that you can fake your body into believing whatever you want is true.

“Our bodies change our minds, and our minds can change our behavior, and our behavior can change our outcomes.”

Dr.Cuddy’s study also found that when you change the chemistry of your body, you can change the outcome of the event.

“When we think of nonverbals, we think of how we judge others… We tend to forget, though, the other audience that’s influenced by our nonverbals: ourselves.”

In summary, if you stand in a power pose for two minutes, it changes your body’s chemistry. This makes your body more powerful. This could change your behavior which may change what happens next.

The Wonder Woman pose (hands on hips) is what Harvard Business School professor Amy J.C. Cuddy tested. If you hold your body in a “highpower” pose like this for short time periods you can summon an extra surge of power and sense of well-being.