Somehow, I managed to hurt my foot last week and I have been limping ever since.
As I sat on the edge of the tub soaking it in Epsom salt, I browsed over an old issue of Cosmopolitan passing all the articles before the editor’s letter. I always start there. It’s a good way to know what the issue is about.
That is how I learned about Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist and Harvard Business professor, whose work explains how women tend to shrink their bodies. Men, on the other hand, expand by spreading their legs.
Through research, she learned that striking a power pose like the “Wonder Woman” stance, for just two minutes will help you look more confident as well as feel more confident too.
That is what she discusses in her TED Talk.
With just two days before my first in-person interview in a very long time, I knew I had some work to do. I have always been good at memorizing a lot of information in a short period of time, but I get so nervous in interviews. To the point that my body slightly trembles. It’s not a good look.
So, if a short video can teach me how to better portray and feel confident, I am all for it.
What stroke me most about Cuddy’s TED talk is how normal and restraining simple gestures were like raising a hand. That hand on the elbow hand raise was definitely me when I was at Penn State. We Are!
I didn’t want that the day of my interview.
I expanded, I projected and even got my “Wonder Woman” stance on in the bathroom before going up the elevator. Oh, and a little on the elevator too.
I am sure the woman who was riding it up with me must have thought I was crazy. With my coat hanging on one arm and my thrifted messenger bag looped through the other, I held my hand on my hips until I reached the eighth floor.
Just before the doors open, I silently whispered to myself, “it’s show time.” And I don’t know, say what you will, but I definitely felt more confident through power posing.
