Add Power Pose to Your Speech Prep

Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

Have you ever had to psych yourself up before you give a speech? Do you sit up with your chest open wide ready to run on stage or do you sit in your chair with your arms crossed, head slightly dipped, awaiting the Toastmaster to introduce you so you can get it over with? I used to fall into the latter category until I listened to Amy Cuddy's presentation on the Power of Posture and Non-Verbal Communication.

Amy Cuddy, Harvard Business School professor, and her colleagues conducted a study about the relationship between posture and confidence to better understand why some students participate more than others in class - participation being  a significant portion of the student's grade.

One of the findings of the study showed a direct correlation between posture and the levels of cortisol and testosterone. Cortisol is the hormone related to anxiety and testosterone is known as the dominance hormone. The test showed that participants who held a power pose - one that opens the chest and makes the person "bigger" - for just two minutes had marked increases in testosterone and therefore confidence. The reverse was also shown in participants who held a low power pose - making oneself smaller by slouching or holding arms closer to the body - by higher levels of cortisol physiologically increasing anxiety.

The helpful hint from these findings is to add holding a power position for two minutes before you deliver your next speech and you will not only FEEL, but will actually BE more confident in your delivery.

How's your body language?

Like introductions, body language is something that can get short shrift. But, if you think about it, it really should not be that way. We spend a ton of time writing and rehearsing our speech. So why are we happy doing things with our body that distracts from our message?

Business Insider a quick set of "worst practices" to avoid in body language when speaking. Most of them are fairly basic. Honestly, I'm surprised that people would do some of them (crossing your arms and/or legs? Seriously?). But they probably would not be listed here unless at least some people did. Others, sadly, I do see all the time, such as turning your back on the audience. The latter usually comes from an over-dependency on your PowerPoint slides. Happily, there's a "double cure" - rehearse your speech better, put less text on your slides (or drop them altogether), and you'll probably cure the problem of turning your back on the audience.

Anyway, here's the link. The presentation has some nice infographics to boot. Til next time, speak well.