[CAREER NEWSLETTER] Power posing: myth or reality?

IÉSEG NETWORK CAREER NEWSLETTER - MARCH 2024

Power posing: myth or reality?

Origins

The potential impact of 'power posing' on confidence and self-perception was popularized by Harvard psychologist Amy Cuddy through her famous TED talk entitled "Your body language shapes who you are" in 2012. 

Definition of power posing

Power posing is a technique for adopting - depending on the context - a powerful and expansive posture for the space of a few minutes. A power pose is a non-verbal expression that empowers and improves our perception of ourselves and others. 

Even if adopting a powerful body language helps you gain confidence, poise and charisma, the aim of power posing is not to intimidate or gain the upper hand over others. On the contrary, it's about cultivating a state of mind that will enable everyone to regain full possession of their means to succeed.

Power posing debates

In her early research, Amy Cuddy discovered that power posing had an influence on body chemistry, increasing testosterone levels while decreasing cortisol levels. However, numerous scientific studies have shown the opposite: there is no direct effect on hormones. As a result, power posing has been the subject of intense debate between skeptical scientists and proponents for many years...

This has led psychologist Amy Cuddy to publish further research that definitively attests to the positive effects of her power postures, but downplays the actual impact on hormones...

Please note that all this research is based on the power postures proposed by Amy Cuddy, but not on body language as a general communication method and its power to influence self-perception and the perception of others, which remains undisputed.

Why use power posing?

In practice, we recommend experimenting with different power poses in stressful situations, such as job interviews, important presentations or competitions, to help you feel more confident, calm and in control. 

More generally, using power posing as a tool to develop body posture awareness and maintain a confident image can indeed be beneficial. 

Combining these 'power poses' with other stress management techniques, such as potential optimization techniques, visualization or positive affirmations, to further boost self-confidence is also recommended.

Examples of power poses

To test power poses, here are the most common ones: 

In this posture of power, the feet are hip-width apart, the hands are placed on the hips, the chest or torso slightly forward and the chin tilted upwards.   

ð Practicing this posture alone for 2 minutes, just before an important meeting or presentation, transmits maximum confidence to take action.

Inspired by Mick Jagger, this posture of power consists of standing with feet apart and hands raised above the head to form the "V" for "Winner". 

ð This posture boosts energy and encourages you, for example, to enter a competition with a winning mentality.

This posture of power was named after President Obama because he often sat with his feet on his desk and his hands behind his head while in the Oval Office of the White House. The legs are outstretched and the body is gently tilted backwards. 

ð This posture conveys an image of a relaxed leader, aware of his strengths and reassuring. It has the advantage of giving you the momentum to move forward!

In this posture, the hands are placed wide apart on a table (or desk) and the person leans forward while standing, transferring their weight onto their hands.

ð This posture, to be adopted during a meeting, helps to establish your commitment. It can be useful, for example, when persuading to close a deal.

Similar to the Obama position, this posture pays homage to Oprah Winfrey because of the way she sits: it consists of settling comfortably into your chair (or armchair), feet anchored to the floor, body leaning back and hands behind your neck. Variations include relaxing one arm on the back of the chair or resting an ankle on the knee. 

ð This posture isn't always natural, especially for women. It does, however, exude a sense of confidence and total mastery of events, ideal for conducting interviews with peers.

For some, this phenomenon has become a real strategy for boosting their self-confidence and self-esteem, but also for changing the way they are perceived by others.

Power postures are about opening your body rather than closing it. It's about adopting a posture of confidence, even if you don't feel very sure of yourself, to give yourself the impression of being more in control of what you do or say!

Of course, certain postures will resonate more than others for each of you and will prove more relevant in some contexts than others. It's up to you to assess the situation and adapt accordingly. Whether or not the effectiveness of the power posing concept has been scientifically validated, if you're comfortable experimenting with it (in the sense that it's not unnatural!), if it generates self-confidence and enables you to make an impact, why deprive yourself?

Elizabeth TOUCAS - Executive Strengths Coach & Career Manager - IÉSEG Network

For any requests you may have for personalized Executive Coaching or for information on the Career Development Services, please contact me: e.toucas@ieseg.fr or +33.6.85.33.01.57.