Power Up With A Power Pose

Posted On 11 Nov 2015

Power Up With A Power Pose

11 Nov 2015
Power Up With A Power Pose

Power Up With A Power Pose

Pre-interview jitters are simply the worst! You’ve perfected your resume, prepped your interview questions and even planned out a response or two. But those jitters stand to ruin all your hard work. If only there was a quick fix to say “bye bye jitters, hello confidence”. Well, it turns out there is!

Forget every “how to overcome interview nerves” advice column you’ve ever read, because we’ve just uncovered the best pre-interview tip yet. Granted, it does sound a little ridiculous, but we’ve got the science to prove that it works.

A few years ago, social psychologist Amy Cuddy and her colleagues wanted to know the answer to one simple question – our minds can change our bodies but can our bodies change our minds? To test this theory, the pair asked a group of people into their lab to measure the effect of power posing on testosterone (dominance hormone) and cortisol (stress hormone) levels.

What’s power posing, you ask? Here’s where it gets interesting!

A power pose is any position that increases the amount of space you take up in the room… think standing tall, hands-on-hips à la Wonderwoman.

So, does power posing actually make a difference?

Yes, it does!

To measure the effects of power posing, half the group was asked to stand in a high power position and the other half was asked to stand in a low power position (think slouched/guarded posture). After two minutes, testosterone and cortisol levels were measured and then compared to pre-pose levels.

The results?

The high power posers experienced a 20% increase in testosterone (dominance) and a 25% decrease in cortisol (stress). The low power posers experienced a 10% decrease in testosterone (dominance) and a 15% increase in cortisol (stress).

So what does all this mean?

Standing like Wonderwoman for two minutes before your job interview may feel a little silly, but it might just help you land the job of your dreams. Not only does it hard-wire your brain to exude confidence and competence, but it also decreases pre-interview stress.

So next time you go to interview, find two minutes before you head into reception to channel Wonderwoman (keep an eye out for a secluded area outside the office or maybe head into a bathroom). Armed with this simple yet powerful life-hack, you’ll be even more unstoppable than you already are.