"Power Posing" by Amy Cuddy

Amy Cuddy presents “Power Posing” at a Ted conference in Edin, Scotland. She explains the importance of body language by how others may see them, but how they also see themselves. That by doing power poses can help them portray confidence in their body language. Amy Cuddy efficiently argues, anyone who feels powerless can become powerful by doing power poses. Amy Cuddy purpose is to persuade her audience to go out and inform future business leaders. By persuading them on the importance of power poses and help better someone’s confidence. She chooses an audience of already successful business leaders because they are resourceful and influential people. Who can go pass information to others who need power, information and guidance. Amy Cuddy wants the audience to leave inspired to go out and help inform others that are starting out, like students on how to gain confidence. Believing that if the audience spreads her knowledge and theory to others it could help them become readied business leaders. Which would be profitable for businesses in the long run.

The audience puts trust in her because “Ted Talks” does. Ted Talks is a reliable convention for successful business men and women to go to. To hear motivational and inspiring speakers on many different topics related to business. With Ted Talks high standing the audience can believe Amy Cuddy, because Ted Talks trust her. Amy Cuddy shows credibility by citing her sources and giving background information. She gives personal background being a mentor at Princeton and then working at Harvard. Amy Cuddy experiences mentoring at Princeton and going to Harvard makes her a credible source. Since the type of education, she received and went to a well-known college makes her a trustworthy source. Since in society standards if someone goes to a high class college like Harvard, they are considered very intelligent and knowledgeable. Which already makes her a reliable source in front of the audience. Amy Cuddy shows more credibility by sharing her data and research on power poses by using graphics and collaborating with a reliable source. She uses different types of graphics to show her work. She used pictures of well-known, respected people who portrays confident body language. Then showed pictures of different poses she saw when researching different students on their body posture to see which one portrays confidence easily. Then made her test subjects stand in what they to be power poses. After that they were given the chance to gamble to see changes in their posture and confidence levels through their saliva. The results show through her bar graphs that 86% of people would gamble who been in power poses while 60% wouldn’t who have been in low power poses. Also she used bar graphs to show the result of being in power poses in how one’s testosterone and cortisol levels change.

That Amy Cuddy use graphics to back up her theory and to look credible to the audience. She even used personal background information about herself to come off as a more relatable person and a creditable source. Amy Cuddy talks about the struggles that she went through with her own confidence. When she was in college after the car accident, that she got involved in. she struggled in graduating from college that it took four more years then her friends to graduate. Even then Amy Cuddy still struggle with her confidence feeling that she didn’t belong. When her advisor, Susan Fiske, gave a chance on Amy Cuddy to work at Princeton. Amy Cuddy almost quit until her advisor said “You are not quitting, because I took a gamble on you, and you’re staying. You’re going to stay, and this is what you’re going to do. You are going to fake it.” Which helped Amy Cuddy gain the confidence and courage she needed to face her class. Where she stayed there for five years, and a phrase that stuck with her that Susan Fiske, Amy Cuddy advisor that taught her the saying “fake it till you make it,” that helped push herself to be where she is today. Though after Princeton she went to Harvard that helped her reach a new revelation of the phrase. That she learned from one of her student’s that didn’t feel like they belong until Amy Cuddy pushed her to fake it to the point that her student became it. In that moment Amy Cuddy realized that after a while if people fake it they can become it. Which made her rephrase it to say “Fake it until you become it.” Amy Cuddy uses these personal experience to connect with her audience on a humane level. To tell others that if she could get past that obstacle by following her motto then anybody can. Making her look more real in the audience eyes, to believe and trust her. Though also to show that if she can do it and her student can do it, anybody can become it.

Amy Cuddy uses different types of diction to connect with her audience. She started out using formal and technical diction. Though sometimes showing informal diction by adding humor through her presentation using graphics or the way she would tell a story. Besides that, she started out with formal and technical diction. Trying to get her point across, to her audience on a professional level by using psychological terms. That gets her point across by getting into the scientific aspect behind body language and physiological effect on their mind. Showing it even through her graphics by playing a video of Barack Obama shaking a police officer hand but not the prime minister. Showing that body language plays a big role in how people portray others. Amy Cuddy does this to gain the audience trust by showing her intelligence by talking well versed, about her topic on power poses and body language. So to make the audience see her experience and point of view of how power poses can help increase someone’s confidence. Then near the end of her speech, she started using informal diction by talking about herself and experiences on a more personal level. For example, when she worked at Harvard for a year. She had a student that came into her office and said “I’m not supposed to be here.” Amy Cuddy said she realized two things in that moment, “Oh my gosh, I don’t feel like that anymore,” and “ Amy Cuddy tells her student that she is supposed to be here and that she can fake it, till she makes it. Then Amy Cuddy realized after that her student didn’t fake it anymore because she became it. She uses this story to be able to have her audience relate and hopefully to encourage her audience to go out and tell others about her story. So they can be inspired to keep moving forward by faking it until they can become it.

Amy Cuddy changes her diction because now that she gains the audience trust, she can start connecting with all of them on a more personal level. To be able to give her audience something to relate to and connect with. So, they can leave with her words in their mind, feeling motivated and inspired. Amy Cuddy theory on power poses shows her audience how they can help people gain confidence. She proves trustworthy by being a credible source and sharing her data, research with her audience. In the end she gains her audience trust by doing and saying on the right things with confidence. Amy Cuddy argues effectively, that anyone who feels powerless can become powerful by doing power poses.