Presence

The author starts with an anecdote to show how she herself felt incapable to display assurance in key moments. While a student, she attends her first psychology symposium. She enters into a conversation with a reputed professor, but sputters and is confusing when the time comes to present him her research. She hears him respond this is the worst presentation he ever heard… She then turned her interest towards the way in which you can show self-confidence. The presence that we have is not linked to extraversion or introversion. It depends more on the alignment between the words we are saying and who we truly are: our values, our identity. We cannot durably inspire trust if we are playing as if: our non-verbal signals betray us. Playing at self-confidence does not fool our counterparts.

If our body can betray us when we play a character, it can also be a powerful ally while preparing for a high-stake event. Scores of tests have shown that adopting a self-asserting position for two minutes—for example standing solid on the feet, hands on the hips—increases our level of testosterone and lowers our level of cortisol. We are less stressed and more alert thanks to this simple posture. You can also obtain those results by visualizing yourself in this posture or by simply standing straight. On the contrary, remaining slumped or frowning contributes to generating negative thoughts and lowering our level of energy. Our posture thus determines in part our emotions, but also our cognitive capabilities. For example, a power posture helps to mobilize more easily our brain and to be more creative.

Being attentive to our counterparts, and thus focusing less on ourselves , or else considering the upcoming difficulty as an exciting challenge, are other means to make the most out of our capacities.

A convincing book, which constitutes an excellent complement to the TED conference by the author.