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Change Your Posture, Change Your Presentation Success

Perhaps you remember your teachers or a parent scolding you to “Stand up straight, don’t slouch.” Looking back you probably realize that advice was well intended.
We generally perceive a person that stands straight with head high is more confident and thus more successful. Because of that we tend to listen better to that person and grant more credibility to their words.

Research from Harvard adds more weight to that advice. The work was published in an article titled “Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance” which appeared in an issue of Psychological Science magazine (September 21, 2010).
The study and article suggest that if you assume a more powerful pose you will feel more powerful because of the increased production of testosterone caused by the physical power posturing. This is a curious aspect of body language. By adjusting the physical language of your body you can  influence  the internal chemical language of your body.
The Burnside News reported:

The study concluded that learning to adopt "high-power" poses of your body for two or three minutes before an interview, meeting or presentation will increase your testosterone levels and decrease your cortisol levels. Since testosterone is associated with power and dominance in mammals and cortisol can cause hypertension and even memory loss, this simple technique can be quite valuable to anyone who suffers feelings of powerlessness, nervousness or physical upset prior to a potentially stressful "performance."

The message for presenters is, if you want to be more successful, adopt a powerful stance before you take the stage. You will both feel more powerful and convey greater power and confidence.

Go ahead and practice before your mirror. Just don’t let your mother walk in on you.

Read the rest of the Article in the Burnside News at Improving Presentation Skills with Power Poses.



Executive Speech Coach, Business presentation tips from George Torok, the Speech Coach for Executives.

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