In 2012, Harvard professor Amy Cuddy delivered a TED Talk that has since been watched by over thirty million people. The talk centered on power poses. Cuddy explains that our body language not only tells other people what we feel, it also affects our internal state. She explained that there are certain poses that are open, take up more space and that increase testosterone (the hormone that makes us bold) and decrease cortisol (the hormone that makes us stressed).
She calls one of them the Wonder Woman pose – hands on hips and legs standing strong. Another pose is to stand like a starfish, all limbs stretched out. Following up on her widely successful TED Talk, Cuddy wrote a book entitled Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges. She begins the book with the following anecdote:
Once, while I was washing my hands in an airport restroom, the woman at the sink next to me turned and said, “I’m really sorry, but are you . . .” She paused, and rather than finish the question, she stretched her arms out and up. I said, “I think so, yes.” Her name was Shannon, and she told me that not only had she incorporated power posing into her own life, she and her husband and their four kids have their own name for it: “Starfish up!” When her kids are nervous, she reminds them to “starfish up!”
Does this mean that “starfish up!” or standing like Wonder Woman will be effective for every person in every situation? Of course not, as I’m sure you know; there is no intervention that will work for every person in every situation. What I most want you to understand is that your body is continuously and convincingly sending messages to your brain, and you get to control the content of those messages… Ultimately, expanding your body brings you to the present and improves your performance. Although our body language governs the way other people perceive us, our body language also governs how we perceive ourselves and how those perceptions become reinforced through our own behavior, our interactions, and even our physiology.
Why should we not carry ourselves with pride and personal power? When we do, we are able to be present in our most challenging moments. How you carry your body shapes how you carry out your life. Your body shapes your mind. Your mind shapes your behavior. And your behavior shapes your future. Let your body tell you that you’re powerful and deserving, and you become more present, enthusiastic, and authentically yourself. So find your own way to starfish up!
Cuddy explains that before you go into a stressful situation in which you want to have presence, or the ability to comfortably express your true thoughts, feelings, values, talents, and knowledge, you should take two minutes to stand in a power pose. That means you should go somewhere you won’t look funny (like a bathroom stall) and stand in a position that tells your brain that you are powerful and will not respond to stress.
Cuddy and a team of scientists at Harvard University conducted studies on students who were walking into high-stress interviews. Some students did nothing, while others were told to pose in these positions. Those who posed for just two minutes had significantly better responses and overall effect than those who did nothing before the interview.
Fake It Until You Become It
Cuddy explains that when she was in college she was in a terrible car accident. She was thrown from the car and had brain damage. This brain damage made her IQ significantly decrease. Whereas before, she had always been identified as “smart,” now she was told that she would not finish college. Cuddy chose not to listen to those around her who told her that she couldn’t finish college. Instead, it took her four extra years, but she worked and worked until she managed to finish college, and then move onto graduate school.
At the beginning of her first year in graduate school, she needed to give a twenty-minute presentation to her peers. She was so nervous that she told her advisor, “I’m quitting.” Her professor told her, “You are not quitting, because I took a gamble on you, and you’re staying. You’re going to stay, and this is what you’re going to do. You are going to fake it. You’re going to do every talk that you ever get asked to do. You’re going to do it and do it and do it, even if you’re terrified and just paralyzed and having an out-of-body experience, until you have this moment where you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m doing it. Like, I have BECOME this. I am actually doing this.’” And that’s part of the science of power poses; at first, you fake it until you make it. Then, you fake it until you become it!
In interviews, Cuddy talks about another real life applications of power poses: If you’re a nervous test taker and you have studied madly for a huge test (like the SATs, MCATs or LSATs) and you are worried you will choke when you get to the test. You know the material, but just don’t know how you will perform on the test, try the power poses before. They will relax and empower you.
A teacher who works with students with learning disabilities relayed how Cuddy’s book helped a child with selective mutism who had trouble speaking in social situations. The teacher taught him about power posing and how everyone feels scared, and through these encouragement and tiny tweaks, the boy began to participate in class discussions.
Is this a magic fix? Of course not! But, everyone can find the power in his or her body – so starfish up!