Lecture on Body Language and Power Posing

Introduction

• Topic: The impact of body language on our lives.
• Main Idea: Simple changes in posture can significantly change life outcomes.
• Initial Exercise: Assess current body posture.

Body Language and Communication

• Nonverbal Behavior: Also known as body language or nonverbals.
• Importance: We communicate a lot through nonverbal cues.
• Judgments: Social scientists study how body language affects judgments and decisions (e.g., hiring or promotions).
  • Example: Physician's niceness judged by body language predicts lawsuits.
  • Example: Political outcomes can be predicted by facial judgments.

Influence of Body Language on Self

• We often overlook how our nonverbals influence our own thoughts, feelings, and physiology.
• Expressions of Power:
  • In animals: Expanding and taking up space.
  • In humans: Similar behaviors when feeling powerful.
• Feeling Powerless: Opposite behaviors (contracting and making oneself small).

Power Dynamics and Gender

• Observation in Classrooms:
  • MBA students show a range of power nonverbals.
  • Differences often linked to gender.
  • Participation in class linked to nonverbal expressions of power.

Research Questions

• Key Question: Do our nonverbals govern how we think and feel about ourselves?
• Hypothesis: "Fake it till you make it" — can pretending to be powerful make you feel powerful?

Experiment on Power Posing

• Experiment Design:
  • Participants adopt high-power or low-power poses for 2 minutes.
  • Measured outcomes: Feelings of power, risk tolerance, hormone levels.
• Results:
  • High-power poses increased feelings of power and risk tolerance.
  • Significant hormonal changes: Increased testosterone, decreased cortisol.

Practical Applications

• Evaluative Situations: Job interviews, public speaking, etc.
• Advice: Use power poses before evaluative situations to improve outcomes.
• Job Interview Study: High-power posers evaluated more positively.

Personal Story and Lessons

• Amy Cuddy's Experience: Overcoming feelings of being an impostor.
• Advice from Experience: "Fake it till you become it."

Conclusion

• Main Takeaway: Tiny tweaks in posture can lead to big changes.
• Call to Action: Use and share the science of power posing.
• Target Audience: Those with no resources or status, as the method is accessible to all.

• Power Posing Steps:
  1. Stand in a high-power pose for two minutes.
  2. Do it before stressful situations to prepare mentally and physiologically.

Quote: "Don't fake it till you make it. Fake it till you become it."