The Secrets to Body Language: How to Improve Confidence in Just 2 Minutes

At the age of 19, Amy Cuddy was involved in a serious car accident and suffered a severe head injury. Doctors said that she would struggle to return to normality, would be unable to finish college and have a heavily reduced IQ and cognitive function.

Defying the odds, she is now known as Professor Amy Cuddy and is a social psychologist at Harvard Business School. Not bad for someone who was temporarily ‘written off’ by doctors. It took her 4 years longer than her classmates to graduate, but she was eventually accepted into Princeton to study social psychology.

On her first day at Princeton, she felt like she didn’t belong there and was so overwhelmed with the thought of university that she told her mentor that she wanted to quit. Her mentor refused to let her quit and told her that she was going to “fake it until you make it – no matter how much it scares you.”

Cuddy managed to “fake it” all the way through Princeton, Northwestern and on to Harvard. She realised that she had come full circle, whilst originally trying to “fake it until she made it,” she had “faked it until she became it.”

Body language speaks louder than words

Humans may have been utilising the power of speech and intelligent communication for thousands of years, but so much more can be shown about what we are really thinking (or indeed trying to project) than our body language. There are certain traits and postures that are ingrained in our systems and are heavily present in the animal kingdom, that when we are in particular emotional states, become much more obvious to the outside world.

One of the most influential elements of body language is the “power pose” and it can be portrayed in both confidence as well as fear:

1. The “high-power pose” - occurs when an animal/person is ‘opened up’ and is caused by pride and confidence.

2. The “low-power pose” – occurs when animals or people are feeling fearful, helpless and rejected.

Unlocking the secret

Professor Cuddy and her peers designed an experiment to test the physical and mental impact of each power pose vs the other. Initially they tested all of the participants baseline cortisol levels (the hormone produced in the adrenal glands when we are stressed) as well as measuring subjects risk adversity i.e. confidence. They then split the participants into 2 groups:

The first group would assume a “high-power pose” for 2 minutes before being tested again. The poses included arms outstretched, hands on hips, leaning back relaxed with the participants chest held high.

The second group assumed a “low-power pose” for 2 minutes that portrays weakness, before being tested again. These poses included clasping arms, folded arms, tending towards the foetal position and touching ones neck.

The results were conclusive and showed a remarkable difference in both physical and mental testing after just 2 minutes of holding one of the high-power or low-power poses.

Confidence increased in the “high-power” group and they were 44% more likely to take a risk compared to the “low-power” group, who actually suffered a decrease in confidence from their baseline risk adversity.

The second part of the test involved measuring the subjects cortisol and testosterone levels straight after they had held their power pose. Again the results showed a difference between the two groups. The “low-power” group saw a decrease in testosterone (the “dominance” hormone) and an increase in their cortisol levels. Where as the “high-power” group saw completely the opposite results with a 20% increase in testosterone and a reduction in cortisol levels.

In conclusion, it took just 2 minutes of holding one “high-power pose” to significantly increase confidence, testosterone (useful for leadership) and a reduction in stress levels (reduced cortisol).

Fake it until you become it

A lot of body language occurs, not because we learn it, but because it is part of our DNA. Athletes who have been blind from birth also display very similar power poses (arms outstretched when winning) even though they have never seen it occur. If 2 minutes is making an impact on us, just think about what it is portraying to others!

If 2 minutes of holding a “low-power pose” is enough to cause an instant increase in our stress levels, imagine what it does over the course of a week or a month or even a year.

“Our bodies change our minds…and our minds change our behaviour…and our behaviour changes our outcomes.”

You don’t need to feel confident to show confident body language (it is just a case of picking one of the poses from above and moving your arms and body into position). From tiny changes in the person that we project to others, big changes can occur. Confidence really can be created from thin air, affecting the way others view us, spirals towards permanent change in our behaviour and outcomes.

Professor Amy Cuddy has overcome some pretty large hurdles in her life. We all have an idea of who and where we want to be in life even if our hurdles seem a lot smaller, they are still barriers that prevent us from expressing who we truly believe we are as well as achieving what we want. So, on scientifically backed and expert advice, “fake it until you become it.”

p.s. Thanks to Chris Greenhill for recommending Professor Amy Cuddy and her inspirational TED talk to me.

This was originally posted on my personal website ithinklots.com.