Your body language shapes who you are - Amy Cuddy

Summary

The video explores how body language influences not only how others perceive us but also how we perceive ourselves. It introduces the idea of 'power posing,' which involves adopting expansive, dominant postures for two minutes to increase confidence and reduce stress. Research shows that this simple act can elevate testosterone and lower cortisol levels, potentially improving outcomes in high-pressure situations like job interviews. The speaker encourages using power poses to help individuals feel more powerful and suggests that even small changes in posture can lead to significant life changes.

Takeaways

• 💪 Changing your posture for two minutes can influence how you feel and behave.
• 🧐 Body language affects how others judge us, but it also impacts how we perceive ourselves.
• 🐒 Both animals and humans express power by expanding their posture, while feeling powerless makes us shrink.
• 👩‍🏫 Gender differences exist in power postures, with women more likely to exhibit 'low power' poses.
• 🧠 Power poses can change hormone levels, increasing testosterone (dominance hormone) and reducing cortisol (stress hormone).
• 🎲 Standing in a power pose increases risk tolerance and assertiveness, even after just two minutes.
• 👩‍🎓 Nonverbal behaviors can affect performance in evaluative situations, like job interviews or public speaking.
• 🤔 Power posing helps not just in appearing confident to others but in actually feeling more powerful internally.
• 😌 Tiny tweaks in posture can lead to significant changes in how we handle stressful or evaluative situations.
• 🌟 Don't 'fake it till you make it'; instead, 'fake it till you become it'—practice confidence until it feels natural.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the speaker in this script?

The speaker focuses on the impact of body language, specifically how changing posture for just two minutes can significantly affect a person's feelings of power and confidence, which in turn influences life outcomes.

What is the 'life hack' that the speaker offers at the beginning?

The speaker offers a 'no-tech life hack' that involves changing your posture for two minutes to make yourself feel more powerful and confident.

How does the speaker describe the difference between high-power and low-power body language?

High-power body language involves making oneself big, expansive, and open, while low-power body language involves making oneself smaller, wrapping up, and closing in.

What evidence does the speaker provide to support the claim that body language affects judgments about others?

The speaker cites research showing that judgments of physicians' body language can predict whether they are sued and that judgments of political candidates' faces can predict election outcomes.

How does the speaker explain that body language affects not just how others see us but also how we see ourselves?

The speaker explains that nonverbal cues, such as body language, also affect our own thoughts, feelings, and physiology, influencing our self-perception and confidence.

What are the two key hormones discussed, and how do they relate to feelings of power?

The two key hormones are testosterone, which is linked to dominance, and cortisol, which is linked to stress. High-power individuals have higher levels of testosterone and lower levels of cortisol, while low-power individuals have the opposite.

What was the result of the experiment involving high-power and low-power poses?

The experiment showed that after adopting high-power poses for two minutes, participants were more likely to take risks, had a 20% increase in testosterone, and a 25% decrease in cortisol. Low-power posers, on the other hand, had a decrease in testosterone and an increase in cortisol.

How does the speaker suggest people should use power posing in real-life situations?

The speaker suggests using power posing for two minutes before evaluative situations like job interviews or presentations to boost feelings of confidence and reduce stress.

What personal story does the speaker share about feeling like an imposter?

The speaker shares a story about surviving a car accident that resulted in a drop in IQ, leading to feelings of being an imposter during college and graduate school. Despite the setback, the speaker pushed through by 'faking it' until becoming confident.

What is the speaker's final takeaway about power posing and its potential impact?

The speaker emphasizes that small changes, like power posing for two minutes, can lead to significant improvements in how people present themselves and handle stressful situations, urging people to share this knowledge, especially with those who have limited resources.

Outlines

00:00

💡 Introduction to a Simple Life Hack

The speaker begins by offering a 'no-tech life hack' that only requires adjusting one's posture for two minutes. Before revealing this hack, the audience is asked to perform a brief self-audit of their current body language. The speaker highlights how body language plays a significant role in communication and how we perceive and interact with others. Examples of non-verbal cues, such as awkward winks or handshakes, illustrate the importance of body language. The speaker emphasizes that body language is not just about how others judge us but also how it influences our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

05:00

🦸‍♂️ Power and Body Language

The speaker delves into how body language reflects power and dominance. In the animal kingdom, dominant creatures expand their posture to take up space, and humans exhibit similar behaviors when they feel powerful. Examples of pride, such as lifting arms in a 'V' shape, are discussed as universal expressions of victory, seen even in those who are congenitally blind. On the contrary, when individuals feel powerless, they make themselves smaller and more compact. This natural body response is mirrored in humans and animals alike, and power dynamics are often complemented by individuals making themselves smaller when around dominant figures.

10:03

📚 Observations in the Classroom

In the classroom, the speaker observes MBA students displaying a wide range of power postures. Some students exhibit strong, confident body language, while others make themselves small and timid. These differences seem to correlate with gender, as women are more likely to show closed-off, powerless body language. The speaker notes that such body language can affect participation, which is crucial in academic environments like business schools where participation contributes to grades. The speaker wonders if changing body posture could help increase participation and ultimately improve academic outcomes.

15:03

🧠 The Mind-Body Connection and Power

The speaker explores whether 'faking' powerful body language can actually influence real behavioral outcomes. The hypothesis is that body language affects not only how others perceive us but also how we perceive ourselves. The speaker shares research showing that smiling can make people feel happy, even when forced. Similarly, adopting a powerful posture might make people feel more confident. The mind-body connection is further examined by focusing on hormones like testosterone (linked to dominance) and cortisol (linked to stress). The speaker describes how powerful people generally have higher testosterone and lower cortisol, which enables them to be confident and less reactive to stress.

20:04

🧪 Experiment on Power Poses

The speaker shares the results of an experiment where participants were asked to hold either high-power or low-power poses for two minutes. Afterward, they were asked to gamble and had their hormone levels measured. Those in high-power poses were significantly more likely to take risks, with 86% choosing to gamble, compared to 60% in low-power poses. Hormonal changes also occurred: high-power posers had a 20% increase in testosterone and a 25% decrease in cortisol, making them feel more assertive and less stressed. These findings suggest that even brief postural changes can reconfigure the brain and alter how we handle stressful situations.

💼 Applying Power Poses in Real Life

The speaker discusses how power poses can be applied in real-life situations, particularly in high-stakes evaluations like job interviews. While the media misinterpreted the research by suggesting people should power pose during interviews, the speaker clarifies that the poses should be done beforehand to boost confidence. The speaker recounts an experiment where participants were asked to hold power poses before a stressful job interview. Those who did felt more confident and were rated more positively by evaluators, not based on the content of their speech but on their overall presence and confidence. The experiment highlights the importance of preparing for evaluations by using power poses to present one’s true self.

👩‍🏫 Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

The speaker shares a personal story about feeling like an imposter after a traumatic accident that affected their cognitive abilities. Despite being told they wouldn't finish college, the speaker persevered and eventually earned a degree. However, even after achieving success, they continued to struggle with feelings of not belonging, particularly in high-pressure academic environments like Princeton and Harvard. The speaker describes how a mentor encouraged them to 'fake it until you make it' by repeatedly facing their fears. Over time, the speaker realized they no longer felt like an imposter and was able to offer similar advice to a struggling student.

💪 Fake It Till You Become It

Building on the idea of overcoming imposter syndrome, the speaker encourages the audience not just to 'fake it till you make it,' but to 'fake it till you become it.' Through repetition and practice, individuals can internalize feelings of power and confidence, eventually becoming their authentic selves in high-pressure situations. The speaker emphasizes that small, simple actions—such as standing in a power pose for two minutes—can lead to significant changes in how we feel and behave. These tweaks can help individuals face challenging situations with confidence and leave feeling like they truly expressed themselves.

🚀 The Power of Tiny Tweaks

In the final message, the speaker stresses that tiny, two-minute adjustments in body language can have a profound impact on one's life. These simple changes can help people navigate stressful, evaluative situations more effectively by boosting their confidence and lowering their stress levels. The speaker encourages the audience to share this knowledge, particularly with those who have limited resources or power, as it can be done privately and still lead to meaningful outcomes. By practicing and sharing these techniques, individuals can help empower themselves and others to perform better in life's most challenging moments.

Keywords

💡Body Language

Body language refers to the nonverbal signals that we use to communicate, such as posture, gestures, and facial expressions. In the video, the speaker discusses how body language affects how others perceive us and even how we perceive ourselves. For example, confident body language, like expanding one’s posture, signals dominance and power, while closed-off body language signals powerlessness.

💡Power Posing

Power posing involves adopting expansive postures that convey power and dominance. The video emphasizes that standing or sitting in a powerful position for just two minutes can boost feelings of confidence and influence important outcomes like job interviews. This practice is rooted in the idea that nonverbal cues can impact our internal sense of power.

💡Nonverbals

Nonverbals are forms of communication without words, including body language, gestures, and facial expressions. In the video, the speaker focuses on how nonverbals, particularly power poses, influence both how others judge us and how we feel about ourselves. Nonverbals can affect important social interactions, such as negotiations or interviews.

💡Testosterone

Testosterone is a hormone linked to dominance and assertiveness. The speaker explains that adopting high-power poses can increase testosterone levels, making individuals feel more powerful and confident. This hormonal change is a key factor in why power posing can make a person feel more in control in evaluative situations.

💡Cortisol

Cortisol is the hormone associated with stress. In the video, the speaker points out that low-power poses lead to higher levels of cortisol, making individuals feel more stressed and powerless. In contrast, adopting high-power poses for two minutes lowers cortisol levels, reducing stress and helping people cope better with challenging situations.

💡Fake It Till You Become It

This phrase encapsulates the speaker’s message that by acting powerful, even when you don’t feel powerful, you can eventually become more confident. Rather than just 'faking it,' adopting power poses can lead to real, internal changes in self-perception, ultimately helping individuals embody the power they once only pretended to have.

💡Evaluative Situations

Evaluative situations are moments when a person is being judged or assessed, such as job interviews or public speaking. The speaker suggests that power posing can be particularly effective in these situations because it helps individuals present themselves more confidently and reduces anxiety, thus improving their performance.

💡Social Threat

Social threat refers to situations where an individual feels vulnerable to judgment or negative evaluation by others. The speaker discusses how adopting low-power poses can make people feel even more stressed and insecure in these high-stakes moments. Power posing, on the other hand, can help mitigate feelings of social threat.

💡Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is the feeling of being a fraud, or that one doesn’t belong, despite having achieved success. The speaker shares a personal story of experiencing imposter syndrome during her time at Princeton. She explains that power posing helped her overcome these feelings by boosting her confidence and helping her 'fake it' until she felt truly capable.

💡Presence

Presence refers to the ability to project confidence, power, and authenticity. The speaker argues that power posing helps people bring their full selves into evaluative situations, increasing their presence. This nonverbal communication is crucial in making others perceive them as competent and trustworthy, regardless of their words.

Highlights

Changing your posture for two minutes can significantly impact how you feel and the outcomes of your interactions.

Body language plays a crucial role in how others perceive us and can affect key life outcomes, such as who gets hired or promoted.

Non-verbal expressions of power, such as taking up space and expanding your posture, are universal and seen across species.

People who feel powerless tend to close up their posture, making themselves smaller, which affects their confidence and assertiveness.

Research shows that power dynamics are reflected in both body language and physiology, affecting hormones like testosterone and cortisol.

High-power poses, held for just two minutes, increase testosterone and decrease cortisol, making individuals feel more powerful and less stressed.

Low-power poses lead to the opposite effect: a decrease in testosterone and an increase in cortisol, making people feel more stressed and less assertive.

In experiments, individuals who adopted high-power poses were more likely to take risks and feel confident compared to those who adopted low-power poses.

Power posing can influence job interview outcomes, as individuals in high-power poses were evaluated more positively and seen as more confident.

The effects of body language extend beyond how others perceive us—it also changes how we perceive and feel about ourselves.

The ‘fake it till you make it’ concept: Adopting powerful body language can eventually lead to truly feeling powerful.

Social scientist research indicates that minimal changes in posture can lead to significant changes in hormonal balance and behavior.

Powerful people tend to be more confident, take more risks, and are less stress-reactive, traits linked to high testosterone and low cortisol.

Small tweaks in body language, like standing tall or spreading out, can lead to big changes in life outcomes, particularly in high-stress situations like job interviews.

The message: Share this science with those who need it most, as it requires no resources, only two minutes, and privacy to empower oneself.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

so i want to start by um offering you a

free

no tech life hack

um and all it requires of you is this

that you change your posture

for two minutes but before i give it

away i want to ask you to right now do a

little audit of your body and what

you're doing with your body so how many

of you are sort of making yourself

smaller maybe you're hunching

um crossing your legs maybe wrapping

your ankles sometimes we hold on to our

arms like this

sometimes we

spread out

i see you

so i want you to pay attention to what

you're doing right now we're going to

come back to that in a few minutes and

i'm hoping that if you sort of learn to

tweak this a little bit it could

significantly change the way your life

unfolds um

so we're really fascinated with body

language and we're particularly

interested in other people's body

language you know we're interested in

like you know

um

a uh

uh an awkward interaction or a smile or

a contemptuous glance or maybe a very

awkward wink

or maybe even something like a handshake

here they are arriving at number 10 and

uh look at this lucky policeman gets to

shake hands with the president of the

united states on here comes the prime

minister of it

now

so um a handshake or the lack of a

handshake can have us talking for weeks

and weeks and weeks even the bbc in the

new york times so so obviously when we

think about nonverbal behavior or body

language but we call it nonverbals as

social scientists it's language so we

think about communication when we think

about communication we think about

interactions so what is your body

language communicating to me what's mine

communicating to you and there's a lot

of reason to be to believe that this is

this is a valid way to look at this so

social scientists have spent a lot of

time

looking at the effects of of our body

language or other people's body language

on judgments and we make sweeping

judgments and inferences from body

language and those judgments can predict

really meaningful life outcomes like who

we hire or promote um who we ask out on

the date for example

uh nalani ambadi a researcher at tufts

university shows that when people watch

30 minute a 30 second soundless clips of

real physician patient interactions

their judgments of the physician's

niceness

predict whether or not that physician

will be sued so it doesn't have to do so

much with whether or not that physician

was incompetent but do we like that

person and how they interacted um

even more dramatic alex todorov at

princeton has shown us that

judgments of political candidates faces

in just one second predict 70 percent of

u.s senate and gubernatorial race

outcomes

and even let's go digital emoticons

used well in online negotiations can

lead you to claim more value from that

negotiation if you use them poorly bad

idea right so

so when we think of nonverbals we think

of how we judge others how they judge us

and what the outcomes are we tend to

forget though the other audience that's

influenced by our nonverbals and that's

ourselves we are also influenced by our

non-verbals our thoughts and our

feelings and our physiology so

what nonverbals am i talking about i'm a

social psychologist

i study prejudice

and i teach at a competitive business

school so

it was inevitable that i would become

interested in power dynamics i became

especially interested in non-verbal

expressions of power and dominance

and what are nonverbal expressions of

power and dominance well

this is what they are so in the animal

kingdom they are about expanding so you

make yourself big you stretch out you

take up space you're basically opening

up it's about opening up and this is

true across the animal kingdom it's not

just limited to primates

and humans do the same thing

so they do this both when they when they

have power sort of chronically and also

when they're feeling powerful in the

moment and this one is especially

interesting because it really shows us

how universal and old these expressions

of power are this expression which is

known as pride

jessica tracy has studied she shows that

people who are born with sight and

people who are congenitally blind

do this when they win at a physical

competition so when they cross the

finish line and they've won it doesn't

matter if they've never seen anyone do

it they do this

so the arms up in the v the chin is

slightly lifted

what do we do when we feel powerless we

do exactly the opposite we close up we

wrap ourselves up we make ourselves

small we don't want to bump into the

person next to us so again both animals

and humans do the same thing

and this is what happens when you put

together high and low power so what we

tend to do

when it comes to power is that we

complement the others non-verbals so if

someone's being really powerful with us

we tend to make ourselves smaller we

don't mirror them we do the opposite of

them

so

i'm watching this behavior in the

classroom

and

what do i notice i notice that

mba students

really exhibit the full range of power

nonverbal so you have people who are

like caricatures of alphas like really

come into the room they get right into

the middle of the room before class even

starts like they really want to occupy

space when they sit down they're sort of

spread out they raise their hands like

this

you have other people who are virtually

collapsing when they come in as soon as

they come in you see it you see it on

their faces and their bodies and they

sit in their chair and they make

themselves tiny and they go like this

when they raise their hand

i notice a couple things about this one

you're not going to be surprised it

seems to be related to gender

so

women are much more likely to do this

kind of thing than men

women feel chronically less powerful

than men so this is not surprising

but the other thing i noticed is that it

also seemed to be related to the extent

to which the students were participating

and how well they were participating and

this is really important in the mba

classroom because participation counts

for half a grade

so

business schools have been struggling

with its gender grade gap you get these

equally qualified women and men coming

in

and then you get these differences and

grades and it seems to be partly

attributable to participation

so i started to wonder you know okay so

you have these people coming in like

this and they're participating is it

possible that we could get people to

fake it and would it lead them to

participate more so my main collaborator

dana carney

who's at berkeley and i really wanted to

know can you fake it till you make it

like can you do this just for a little

while and actually experience a

behavioral outcome that makes you seem

more powerful so we know that our

non-verbals govern how other people

think and feel about us there's a lot of

evidence but our question really was

do our non-verbals govern how we think

and feel about ourselves

there's some evidence that they do so

for example um

when we we smile when we feel happy but

also when we're forced to smile by

holding a pen in our teeth like this

it makes us feel happy

so it goes both ways when it comes to

power

um

it also goes both ways so when you when

you uh feel powerful you're more likely

to do this but it's also possible

that um when you when you

pretend to be powerful you are more

likely to actually feel powerful

so the second question really was you

know

so we know that our minds change our

bodies but is it also true that that our

bodies change our minds

and when i say minds in the case of the

powerful what am i talking about so i'm

talking about thoughts

and feelings and the sort of

physiological things that make up our

thoughts and feelings and in my case

that's hormones i look at hormones so

what do the minds of the powerful versus

the powerless look like

so powerful people

tend to be not surprisingly more

assertive and more confident

more more optimistic they actually feel

that they're going to win even at games

of chance

they also tend to be able to think more

abstractly so there are a lot of

differences they take more risks there

are a lot of differences between

powerful and powerless people

physiologically there also our

differences on two

key hormones

testosterone which is the dominance

hormone

and cortisol which is the stress hormone

so

what we find is that

um

a high power alpha males and primate

hierarchies have high testosterone and

low cortisol

and

powerful and effective leaders also have

high testosterone and low cortisol so

what does that mean when you think about

power 10 people tended to think only

about testosterone because that was

about dominance but really power is also

about how you react to stress so do you

want the high power leader that's

dominant high on testosterone but really

stress reactive probably not right you

want the person

who's powerful and assertive and

dominant but not very stress reactive

the person who's laid back

so

we know that

in

in private hierarchies if an alpha needs

to take over uh if an individual needs

to take over an alpha role sort of

suddenly

within a few days that individual's

testosterone has gone up significantly

and his cortisol has dropped

significantly so we have this evidence

both that the body can shape the mind at

least at the facial level

and also

that role changes can shape the mind so

what happens okay you take a role change

what happens if you do that at a really

minimal level like this tiny

manipulation this tiny intervention for

two minutes you say i want you to stand

like this and it's going to make you

feel more powerful

so

this is what we did we decided to bring

people into the lab and run a little

experiment and these people adopted for

two minutes

either

high power poses or low power poses and

i'm just going to show you five of the

poses although they took on on two

so here's one

a couple more

this one has been dubbed the wonder

woman by the media

here a couple more

so you can be standing or you can be

sitting

and here are the low power poses so

you're folding up you're making yourself

small

this one is very low power when you're

touching your neck you're really kind of

protecting yourself

so

this is what happens they come in they

spit into a vial

we for two minutes say you need to do

this or this they don't look at pictures

of the poses we don't want to prime them

with a concept of power we want them to

be feeling power right so two minutes

they do this

we then ask them how powerful do you

feel on a series of items and then we

give them an opportunity to gamble

and then we take another saliva sample

that's it that's the whole experiment so

this is what we find risk tolerance

which is the gambling what we find is

that when you're not when the when

you're in the high power pose condition

86 of you will gamble when you're in the

low power post condition only 60 and

that's a pretty whopping significant

difference

here's what we find on testosterone

from their baseline when they come in

high-powered people experience about a

20 increase

and low power people experience about a

10 decrease so again two minutes and you

get these changes

here's what you get on cortisol

high power people experience about a 25

decrease

and the low power people experience

about a 15

increase so two minutes lead to these

hormonal changes that configure your

brain to basically be either

assertive confident and comfortable

or really stress reactive

and you know feeling sort of shut down

and we've all had that feeling right

so

it seems that our nonverbals do govern

how we think and feel about ourselves so

it's not just others but it's also

ourselves

also our bodies change our minds

but the next question of course is can

power posing for a few minutes really

change your life in meaningful ways so

this is in the lab it's this little task

you know it's just a couple of minutes

you know where can you actually apply

this which we cared about of course

and so we think it's really what what

what matters i mean where you want to

use this is evaluative situations like

social threat situations where are you

being evaluated either by your friends

like for teenagers at the lunchroom

table it could be you know for some

people speaking at a school board

meeting it might be giving a pitch or

giving a talk like this or

doing a job interview we decided that

the one that most people could relate to

because most people had been through was

the job interview so

um we published these these findings and

the media are all over and they say um

okay so this is what you do when you go

in for the job interview right

you know so we were of course horrified

and said oh my god no no no that's not

what we meant at all for

numerous reasons no no no don't do that

again this is not about you talking to

other people it's you talking to

yourself what do you do before you go

into a job interview you do this right

you're sitting down you're looking at

your iphone or your android not trying

to leave anyone out um you are you know

you're looking at your notes you're

hunting up making yourself small when

really what you should be doing maybe is

this like in the bathroom right do that

find two minutes so that's what we want

to test okay so we bring people into a

lab and they do a cup they do either

higher low power poses again they go

through a very stressful job interview

it's five minutes long they are being

recorded they're being judged also and

the judges

are trained to give no nonverbal

feedback so they look like this like

imagine this is the person interviewing

you

so for five minutes nothing and this is

worse than being heckled people hate

this it's it's what marianne lafrance

calls standing in social quicksand so

this really spikes your cortisol so this

is the job interview we put them through

because we really wanted to see what

happened we then have these coders look

at these tapes four of them they're

blind to the hypothesis they're blind to

the conditions they have no idea who's

been posing in what pose

and they

they end up

looking at these sets of tapes and they

say oh we want to hire these people all

the high power posers we don't want to

hire these people

we also evaluate these people much more

positively overall

but what's driving it it's not about the

content of the speech it's about the

presence that they're bringing to the

speech we also because we rate them on

all these variables related to sort of

competence like how well structured is

the speech how good is it what are their

qualifications no effect on those things

this is what's affected these kinds of

things

people are bringing their true selves

basically they're bringing themselves

they bring their ideas but as themselves

with no you know residue over them so

this is what's driving the effect or

media mediating the effect

so

um when i tell people about this

that our bodies change our minds and our

minds can change our behavior and our

behavior can change our outcomes they

say to me

i don't it feels fake right so i said

fake it till you make it like i don't

it's not me like i don't want to get

there and then still feel like a fraud i

don't want to feel like an imposter i

don't want to get there only to feel

like i'm not supposed to be here

and

that really resonated with me because i

want to tell you a little story about

being an imposter and feeling like i'm

not supposed to be here

when i was 19

i was in a really bad car accident i was

thrown out of a car

rolled several times i was thrown from

the car

and i woke up in a head injury rehab

ward

and i had been withdrawn from college

and i learned that my iq had dropped by

two standard deviations

which was um

very traumatic i knew my iq because i

had identified with being smart and i

had been called gifted as a child so i'm

taken out of college i keep trying to go

back they say you're not gonna finish

college like just you know

there's there are other things for you

to do but that's not gonna work out for

you

so

i really struggled with this and i have

to say having your identity taken from

you your core identity and if for me it

was being smart

having that taken from you there's

nothing that leaves you feeling more

powerless than that

so i felt entirely powerless i worked

and worked and worked and i got lucky

and worked and got lucky and worked

eventually i graduated from college

took me four years longer than my peers

and i convinced someone my my angel

advisor susan fisk to take me on and so

i ended up at princeton and i was like i

am not supposed to be here i am an

imposter and the night before my first

year talking the first year talk at

princeton is a 20-minute talk to 20

people that's it

i was so afraid of being found out the

next day that i called her and said i'm

quitting

she was like 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're

going to fake it you're going to take

you're going to do every talk that you

ever get asked to do you're just gonna

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 so

that's what i did five years in grad

school a few years you know i'm at

northwestern i moved to harvard i'm at

harvard i'm not really thinking about it

anymore but for a long time i had been

thinking not supposed to be here not

supposed to be here so at the end of my

first year at harvard

a student who had not talked in class

the entire semester who had said look

you've got to participate or else you're

going to fail

came into my office i really didn't know

her at all

and she said

she came in totally defeated and she

said

i'm not supposed to be here

and that was the moment for me because

two things happened one was that i

realized

oh my gosh i don't feel like that

anymore

you know

i don't feel that anymore but she does

and i get that feeling and the second

was she is supposed to be here like she

can fake it she can become it so he's

like

yes you are you are supposed to be here

and tomorrow you're gonna fake it you're

gonna make yourself powerful and you

know

you're gonna

and

you're gonna go you're gonna go into the

classroom and you are gonna give the

best comment ever you know and she gave

the best comment ever and people turned

around they were like oh my god i didn't

even notice her sitting there you know

she comes back to me months later and i

realized that she had not just faked it

till she made it she had actually faked

it till she became it so she had changed

um and so i i i want to say to you don't

fake it till you make it fake it till

you become it

you know it's not do it enough until you

actually become it and internalize the

last thing i want to leave you with is

this

tiny tweaks

can lead to big changes

so

this is two minutes two minutes two

minutes two minutes before you go into

the next stressful evaluative situation

for two minutes try doing this in the

elevator in a bathroom stall at your

desk behind closed doors that's what you

want to do get configure your brain to

cope the best in that situation get your

testosterone up get your quarters all

down don't leave that situation feeling

like oh i didn't show them who i am

leave that situation feeling like i

really feel like i got to say who i am

and show who i am so i want to ask you

first you know

both to

try power posing

and also i want to ask you to share this

science because this is simple i don't

have ego involved in this

give it away like share it with people

because the people who can use it the

most are the ones with no resources and

no technology and no status and no power

give it to them because they can do it

in private they need their bodies

privacy and two minutes and it can

significantly change the outcomes of

their life thank you

[Music]

you