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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Study Spotlight: The Benefits of Power Posing

By: Joel Luedke


Before you stop reading and wonder if I've lost it a little bit I highly urge you to read on.  Don't take it at first glance with 'power posing' and right it off, the ideas behind it and how easy it can be to apply make it worth the short read.  


What They Did: 
Researchers took a look at how 'power posing' in an expansive, open (high-power) poses, or contractive, closed (low-power) poses affected participants prior to delivering a speech to two evaluators as part of a mock interview.  All these speeches were videotaped and coded for overall importance, hire ability, and speech quality.

What They Found:
Researchers predicted that high power posers performed better and were more likely to chose chosen for hire and they were right on.  What was interesting is the reasons why it worked.  The reason they ended up was only because of their presentation quality, not speech quality.  They also found out that the power pose condition had no effect on the body posture during the social evolution.  This shows and highlights how important the preparatory nonverbal behavior and subsequent performance.

What It All Means: 
Now I know we aren't typically handing out advice when it comes interviews but like most things there is some very applicable information in this study.  What I found most interesting is that even when the preparatory posing was done there was no change in the body posture during the actual interview.  Think about that tough workout you have coming up or a huge event you are competing in and how that might prove intimidating.  Use this information to follow an expansive, open (high-power) pose to set you up for success before it even begins.

Something this simple can be so powerful to help get you through that work out and give you a small edge in any competition setting.  Give it a try.

LINK: The Benefit of Power Posing Before a High-Stakes Social Evaluation

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