Lecture Notes: Power Posing by Amy Cuddy

Introduction

• Offer of a free no-tech life hack: change your posture for two minutes.
• Initial audit of body language: Are you making yourself smaller or larger?

Understanding Body Language

• Fascination with body language, especially in others.
• Social scientists refer to body language as "nonverbals."
• Nonverbals communicate between people and can predict important life outcomes.
  • Examples:
    • Physicians’ niceness predicted by body language.
    • Political candidates’ success linked to facial judgments.
    • Effective use of emoticons in negotiations.

Nonverbals Influence on the Self

• Nonverbals affect thoughts, feelings, and physiology.
• Interest in power dynamics and nonverbal expressions of power and dominance.
• Power poses in the animal kingdom: expanding, taking up space.
• Humans exhibit similar behaviors: pride pose seen in both sighted and blind individuals when winning.

Power Dynamics

• Power poses: People with power expand; powerless people contract.
• Complementing others' nonverbals rather than mirroring.
• Gender differences observed in classroom settings: Women tend to feel less powerful.
• Participation in class influences grades; could power posing increase participation?

"Fake It Till You Make It"

• Experiment by Amy Cuddy and Dana Carney:
  • Test if temporary power posing could lead to behavioral outcomes.
  • Body language impacts self-perception.
  • Example: Smiling induced by holding a pen can make one feel happy.
  • Can pretending to be powerful make you feel powerful?

Experiment on Power Posing

• Experiment: Participants adopted high or low power poses for two minutes.
  • Measured risk tolerance, testosterone, and cortisol levels.
  • High-power poses increased testosterone and decreased cortisol.
  • Low-power poses had the opposite effect.

Practical Applications of Power Posing

• Application in evaluative situations like job interviews.
• Experiment: High-power posers were more likely to be hired in job simulations.
• Presence and confidence improved, not content.

Personal Story and Insight

• Amy Cuddy's experience with Impostor Syndrome after an accident.
• Realization that identity can be rebuilt through persistence and effort.
• Encouragement to "fake it till you become it," transforming self-perception.

Conclusion

• Simple changes like power posing can lead to significant outcomes.
• Encouragement to use and share the power posing technique, especially with those lacking resources.
• Emphasizes: Two minutes can prepare the brain for better outcomes in stressful situations.

Call to Action

• Try power posing and share the science.
• Empowerment through simple, accessible methods.

• Note: Power posing is about self-perception and not meant to be used overtly in social settings.