Action Figure Power Poses

Sit up straight.

Don’t slouch.

Stand on both feet.

Uncross your arms.

Put down your cell phone.

Your mother probably said one or all of those commands to you. Or maybe you’ve said them to your children. Now, research supports her declarations.

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal about a study conducted at the University of California, Berkley, “merely practicing a ‘power pose’ for a few minutes in private—such as standing tall and leaning slightly forward with hands at one’s side, or leaning forward over a desk with hands planted firmly on its surface—led to higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in study participants. These physiological changes are linked to better performance and more confident, assertive behavior, recent studies show.”

Many people don’t realize the perception others have of them based on their posture. Even “hunched over a cell phone before a meeting or presentation may be self-defeating, because it forces the user into a low-power pose,” according to a study by Harvard Business School.

When I teach presentation skills, I videotape the participants and evaluate their performance. Many people are shocked at how they appear on video. The participants are surprised how they use hand gestures, that they look nervous and say the word “um” too often.

When I read this article in the Wall Street Journal, I decided for today’s gift I would email the article to one of my clients to whom I had taught Presentation Skills, to underscore what we had talked about in the session. Hopefully they can use the information to make their own action figure power poses.

Read the article here Strike a Powerful Pose WSJ or click on the WSJ link in my next post.

In Giving,

Robin