0:00:00.707,0:00:06.105 So I want to start by offering you[br]a free no-tech life hack, 0:00:06.129,0:00:08.726 and all it requires of you is this: 0:00:08.750,0:00:12.913 that you change your posture[br]for two minutes. 0:00:12.937,0:00:16.337 But before I give it away,[br]I want to ask you to right now 0:00:16.361,0:00:19.930 do a little audit of your body[br]and what you're doing with your body. 0:00:19.954,0:00:22.645 So how many of you are[br]sort of making yourselves smaller? 0:00:22.669,0:00:25.990 Maybe you're hunching, crossing your legs,[br]maybe wrapping your ankles. 0:00:26.014,0:00:29.729 Sometimes we hold onto our arms like this. 0:00:29.753,0:00:33.400 Sometimes we spread out. (Laughter) 0:00:33.424,0:00:35.672 I see you. 0:00:35.696,0:00:38.687 So I want you to pay attention[br]to what you're doing right now. 0:00:38.711,0:00:41.045 We're going to come back[br]to that in a few minutes, 0:00:41.069,0:00:43.993 and I'm hoping that if you learn[br]to tweak this a little bit, 0:00:44.017,0:00:47.429 it could significantly change[br]the way your life unfolds. 0:00:47.453,0:00:51.953 So, we're really fascinated[br]with body language, 0:00:51.977,0:00:55.876 and we're particularly interested[br]in other people's body language. 0:00:55.900,0:01:00.097 You know, we're interested in,[br]like, you know — (Laughter) — 0:01:00.121,0:01:04.495 an awkward interaction, or a smile, 0:01:04.519,0:01:08.727 or a contemptuous glance,[br]or maybe a very awkward wink, 0:01:08.751,0:01:11.965 or maybe even something like a handshake. 0:01:11.989,0:01:15.314 Narrator: Here they are[br]arriving at Number 10. 0:01:15.338,0:01:19.807 This lucky policeman gets to shake hands[br]with the President of the United States. 0:01:19.831,0:01:24.734 Here comes the Prime Minister --[br]No. (Laughter) (Applause) 0:01:24.758,0:01:27.409 (Laughter) (Applause) 0:01:27.433,0:01:31.116 Amy Cuddy: So a handshake,[br]or the lack of a handshake, 0:01:31.140,0:01:33.640 can have us talking for weeks[br]and weeks and weeks. 0:01:33.664,0:01:35.780 Even the BBC and The New York Times. 0:01:35.804,0:01:39.731 So obviously when we think[br]about nonverbal behavior, 0:01:39.755,0:01:43.119 or body language -- but we call it[br]nonverbals as social scientists -- 0:01:43.143,0:01:45.999 it's language, so we think[br]about communication. 0:01:46.023,0:01:49.026 When we think about communication,[br]we think about interactions. 0:01:49.050,0:01:51.465 So what is your body language[br]communicating to me? 0:01:51.489,0:01:53.531 What's mine communicating to you? 0:01:53.555,0:01:59.503 And there's a lot of reason to believe[br]that this is a valid way to look at this. 0:01:59.527,0:02:01.771 So social scientists[br]have spent a lot of time 0:02:01.795,0:02:03.876 looking at the effects[br]of our body language, 0:02:03.900,0:02:06.185 or other people's body language,[br]on judgments. 0:02:06.209,0:02:09.624 And we make sweeping judgments[br]and inferences from body language. 0:02:09.648,0:02:13.614 And those judgments can predict[br]really meaningful life outcomes 0:02:13.638,0:02:17.407 like who we hire or promote,[br]who we ask out on a date. 0:02:17.431,0:02:22.092 For example, Nalini Ambady,[br]a researcher at Tufts University, 0:02:22.116,0:02:26.564 shows that when people watch[br]30-second soundless clips 0:02:26.588,0:02:29.588 of real physician-patient interactions, 0:02:29.612,0:02:32.421 their judgments[br]of the physician's niceness 0:02:32.445,0:02:35.058 predict whether or not[br]that physician will be sued. 0:02:35.082,0:02:36.740 So it doesn't have to do so much 0:02:36.764,0:02:39.263 with whether or not that physician[br]was incompetent, 0:02:39.287,0:02:42.093 but do we like that person[br]and how they interacted? 0:02:42.117,0:02:45.028 Even more dramatic,[br]Alex Todorov at Princeton 0:02:45.052,0:02:48.705 has shown us that judgments[br]of political candidates' faces 0:02:48.729,0:02:52.673 in just one second predict 70 percent 0:02:52.697,0:02:56.523 of U.S. Senate and gubernatorial[br]race outcomes, 0:02:56.547,0:02:58.745 and even, let's go digital, 0:02:58.769,0:03:02.890 emoticons used well in online negotiations 0:03:02.914,0:03:05.722 can lead you to claim more value[br]from that negotiation. 0:03:05.746,0:03:08.945 If you use them poorly, bad idea. Right? 0:03:08.969,0:03:12.042 So when we think of nonverbals,[br]we think of how we judge others, 0:03:12.066,0:03:14.944 how they judge us[br]and what the outcomes are. 0:03:14.968,0:03:17.064 We tend to forget, though,[br]the other audience 0:03:17.088,0:03:20.499 that's influenced by our nonverbals,[br]and that's ourselves. 0:03:20.523,0:03:23.712 We are also influenced by our nonverbals, 0:03:23.736,0:03:26.075 our thoughts and our feelings[br]and our physiology. 0:03:26.099,0:03:29.138 So what nonverbals am I talking about? 0:03:29.162,0:03:32.081 I'm a social psychologist.[br]I study prejudice, 0:03:32.105,0:03:34.808 and I teach at a competitive[br]business school, 0:03:34.832,0:03:39.292 so it was inevitable that I would become[br]interested in power dynamics. 0:03:39.316,0:03:43.104 I became especially interested[br]in nonverbal expressions 0:03:43.128,0:03:45.107 of power and dominance. 0:03:45.131,0:03:47.846 And what are nonverbal expressions[br]of power and dominance? 0:03:47.870,0:03:49.929 Well, this is what they are. 0:03:49.953,0:03:52.807 So in the animal kingdom,[br]they are about expanding. 0:03:52.831,0:03:55.817 So you make yourself big, you stretch out, 0:03:55.841,0:03:58.758 you take up space,[br]you're basically opening up. 0:03:58.782,0:04:00.704 It's about opening up. 0:04:00.728,0:04:03.459 And this is true[br]across the animal kingdom. 0:04:03.483,0:04:05.508 It's not just limited to primates. 0:04:06.244,0:04:08.928 And humans do the same thing. (Laughter) 0:04:08.952,0:04:12.639 So they do this both when they have[br]power sort of chronically, 0:04:12.663,0:04:15.640 and also when they're feeling[br]powerful in the moment. 0:04:15.664,0:04:18.712 And this one is especially interesting[br]because it really shows us 0:04:18.736,0:04:22.734 how universal and old these[br]expressions of power are. 0:04:22.758,0:04:25.333 This expression, which is known as pride, 0:04:25.357,0:04:27.586 Jessica Tracy has studied. 0:04:27.610,0:04:30.493 She shows that people[br]who are born with sight 0:04:30.517,0:04:33.434 and people who are congenitally[br]blind do this 0:04:33.458,0:04:35.748 when they win at a physical competition. 0:04:35.772,0:04:38.226 So when they cross[br]the finish line and they've won, 0:04:38.250,0:04:40.727 it doesn't matter if they've never[br]seen anyone do it. 0:04:40.751,0:04:42.044 They do this. 0:04:42.068,0:04:44.566 So the arms up in the V,[br]the chin is slightly lifted. 0:04:44.590,0:04:46.653 What do we do when we feel powerless? 0:04:46.677,0:04:48.432 We do exactly the opposite. 0:04:48.456,0:04:50.960 We close up.[br]We wrap ourselves up. 0:04:50.984,0:04:52.328 We make ourselves small. 0:04:52.352,0:04:54.708 We don't want to bump[br]into the person next to us. 0:04:54.732,0:04:57.465 So again, both animals and humans[br]do the same thing. 0:04:57.489,0:05:01.445 And this is what happens[br]when you put together high and low power. 0:05:01.469,0:05:04.571 So what we tend to[br]do when it comes to power 0:05:04.595,0:05:07.224 is that we complement[br]the other's nonverbals. 0:05:07.248,0:05:09.655 So if someone is being[br]really powerful with us, 0:05:09.679,0:05:12.299 we tend to make ourselves smaller.[br]We don't mirror them. 0:05:12.323,0:05:13.913 We do the opposite of them. 0:05:13.937,0:05:17.112 So I'm watching this behavior[br]in the classroom, 0:05:17.136,0:05:19.649 and what do I notice? 0:05:19.673,0:05:26.902 I notice that MBA students really exhibit[br]the full range of power nonverbals. 0:05:26.926,0:05:29.450 So you have people[br]who are like caricatures of alphas, 0:05:29.474,0:05:32.855 really coming into the room, they get[br]right into the middle of the room 0:05:32.879,0:05:36.292 before class even starts,[br]like they really want to occupy space. 0:05:36.316,0:05:38.555 When they sit down,[br]they're sort of spread out. 0:05:38.579,0:05:40.313 They raise their hands like this. 0:05:40.337,0:05:42.948 You have other people[br]who are virtually collapsing 0:05:42.972,0:05:45.472 when they come in.[br]As soon they come in, you see it. 0:05:45.496,0:05:47.765 You see it on their faces[br]and their bodies, 0:05:47.789,0:05:50.583 and they sit in their chair[br]and they make themselves tiny, 0:05:50.607,0:05:52.945 and they go like this[br]when they raise their hand. 0:05:52.969,0:05:54.827 I notice a couple of things about this. 0:05:54.851,0:05:56.661 One, you're not going to be surprised. 0:05:56.685,0:05:58.703 It seems to be related to gender. 0:05:58.727,0:06:04.168 So women are much more likely[br]to do this kind of thing than men. 0:06:04.192,0:06:06.754 Women feel chronically[br]less powerful than men, 0:06:06.778,0:06:08.636 so this is not surprising. 0:06:08.660,0:06:10.709 But the other thing I noticed 0:06:10.733,0:06:13.375 is that it also seemed[br]to be related to the extent 0:06:13.399,0:06:17.235 to which the students were participating,[br]and how well they were participating. 0:06:17.259,0:06:19.817 And this is really important[br]in the MBA classroom, 0:06:19.841,0:06:22.498 because participation[br]counts for half the grade. 0:06:22.522,0:06:26.971 So business schools have been struggling[br]with this gender grade gap. 0:06:26.995,0:06:30.243 You get these equally qualified[br]women and men coming in 0:06:30.267,0:06:32.410 and then you get[br]these differences in grades, 0:06:32.434,0:06:35.499 and it seems to be partly[br]attributable to participation. 0:06:35.523,0:06:38.522 So I started to wonder, you know, okay, 0:06:38.546,0:06:42.164 so you have these people coming in[br]like this, and they're participating. 0:06:42.188,0:06:44.717 Is it possible that we could[br]get people to fake it 0:06:44.741,0:06:46.741 and would it lead them[br]to participate more? 0:06:46.765,0:06:51.354 So my main collaborator[br]Dana Carney, who's at Berkeley, 0:06:51.378,0:06:54.909 and I really wanted to know,[br]can you fake it till you make it? 0:06:54.933,0:06:57.460 Like, can you do this[br]just for a little while 0:06:57.484,0:07:00.136 and actually experience[br]a behavioral outcome 0:07:00.160,0:07:01.862 that makes you seem more powerful? 0:07:01.886,0:07:05.314 So we know that our nonverbals[br]govern how other people 0:07:05.338,0:07:07.719 think and feel about us.[br]There's a lot of evidence. 0:07:07.743,0:07:09.165 But our question really was, 0:07:09.189,0:07:13.229 do our nonverbals govern[br]how we think and feel about ourselves? 0:07:13.253,0:07:15.919 There's some evidence that they do. 0:07:15.943,0:07:20.555 So, for example, we smile[br]when we feel happy, 0:07:20.579,0:07:22.733 but also, when we're forced to smile 0:07:22.757,0:07:27.148 by holding a pen in our teeth[br]like this, it makes us feel happy. 0:07:27.172,0:07:29.090 So it goes both ways. 0:07:29.114,0:07:32.896 When it comes to power,[br]it also goes both ways. 0:07:32.920,0:07:35.444 So when you feel powerful, 0:07:35.468,0:07:37.239 you're more likely to do this, 0:07:37.263,0:07:43.441 but it's also possible[br]that when you pretend to be powerful, 0:07:43.465,0:07:46.864 you are more likely[br]to actually feel powerful. 0:07:46.888,0:07:49.924 So the second question[br]really was, you know, 0:07:49.948,0:07:52.507 so we know that our minds[br]change our bodies, 0:07:52.531,0:07:56.924 but is it also true[br]that our bodies change our minds? 0:07:56.948,0:07:59.651 And when I say minds,[br]in the case of the powerful, 0:07:59.675,0:08:01.023 what am I talking about? 0:08:01.047,0:08:03.189 So I'm talking about thoughts and feelings 0:08:03.213,0:08:06.785 and the sort of physiological things[br]that make up our thoughts and feelings, 0:08:06.809,0:08:09.852 and in my case, that's hormones.[br]I look at hormones. 0:08:09.876,0:08:14.186 So what do the minds of the powerful[br]versus the powerless look like? 0:08:14.210,0:08:18.482 So powerful people tend to be,[br]not surprisingly, 0:08:18.506,0:08:22.706 more assertive and more confident,[br]more optimistic. 0:08:22.730,0:08:26.016 They actually feel they're going to win[br]even at games of chance. 0:08:26.040,0:08:29.884 They also tend to be able[br]to think more abstractly. 0:08:29.908,0:08:32.528 So there are a lot of differences.[br]They take more risks. 0:08:32.552,0:08:35.791 There are a lot of differences[br]between powerful and powerless people. 0:08:35.815,0:08:38.635 Physiologically,[br]there also are differences 0:08:38.659,0:08:42.700 on two key hormones: testosterone,[br]which is the dominance hormone, 0:08:42.724,0:08:46.394 and cortisol, which is the stress hormone. 0:08:46.418,0:08:53.539 So what we find is that high-power[br]alpha males in primate hierarchies 0:08:53.563,0:08:56.737 have high testosterone and low cortisol, 0:08:56.761,0:08:59.669 and powerful and effective leaders 0:09:00.287,0:09:02.518 also have high testosterone[br]and low cortisol. 0:09:02.542,0:09:04.923 So what does that mean?[br]When you think about power, 0:09:04.947,0:09:07.246 people tended to think[br]only about testosterone, 0:09:07.270,0:09:09.034 because that was about dominance. 0:09:09.058,0:09:12.504 But really, power is also about[br]how you react to stress. 0:09:12.528,0:09:15.633 So do you want the high-power[br]leader that's dominant, 0:09:15.657,0:09:18.375 high on testosterone,[br]but really stress reactive? 0:09:18.399,0:09:19.940 Probably not, right? 0:09:19.964,0:09:22.994 You want the person who's powerful[br]and assertive and dominant, 0:09:23.018,0:09:26.682 but not very stress reactive,[br]the person who's laid back. 0:09:26.706,0:09:31.832 So we know that in primate hierarchies, 0:09:31.856,0:09:34.924 if an alpha needs to take over, 0:09:34.948,0:09:39.162 if an individual needs to take over[br]an alpha role sort of suddenly, 0:09:39.186,0:09:42.273 within a few days,[br]that individual's testosterone has gone up 0:09:42.297,0:09:45.778 significantly and his cortisol[br]has dropped significantly. 0:09:45.802,0:09:48.819 So we have this evidence,[br]both that the body can shape 0:09:48.843,0:09:51.185 the mind, at least at the facial level, 0:09:51.209,0:09:55.314 and also that role changes[br]can shape the mind. 0:09:55.338,0:09:58.096 So what happens, okay,[br]you take a role change, 0:09:58.120,0:10:00.680 what happens if you do that[br]at a really minimal level, 0:10:00.704,0:10:03.133 like this tiny manipulation,[br]this tiny intervention? 0:10:03.157,0:10:05.967 "For two minutes," you say,[br]"I want you to stand like this, 0:10:05.991,0:10:08.527 and it's going to make you feel[br]more powerful." 0:10:08.551,0:10:11.481 So this is what we did. 0:10:11.505,0:10:16.096 We decided to bring people into the lab[br]and run a little experiment, 0:10:16.120,0:10:19.645 and these people adopted, for two minutes, 0:10:19.669,0:10:23.129 either high-power poses[br]or low-power poses, 0:10:23.153,0:10:25.470 and I'm just going to show[br]you five of the poses, 0:10:25.494,0:10:27.055 although they took on only two. 0:10:27.079,0:10:28.559 So here's one. 0:10:29.809,0:10:31.098 A couple more. 0:10:31.792,0:10:36.545 This one has been dubbed[br]the "Wonder Woman" by the media. 0:10:36.646,0:10:37.944 Here are a couple more. 0:10:37.968,0:10:40.298 So you can be standing[br]or you can be sitting. 0:10:40.322,0:10:42.283 And here are the low-power poses. 0:10:42.307,0:10:45.037 So you're folding up,[br]you're making yourself small. 0:10:46.644,0:10:48.085 This one is very low-power. 0:10:48.109,0:10:52.068 When you're touching your neck,[br]you're really protecting yourself. 0:10:52.092,0:10:54.089 So this is what happens. 0:10:54.207,0:10:56.413 They come in, they spit into a vial, 0:10:56.437,0:10:59.586 for two minutes, we say,[br]"You need to do this or this." 0:10:59.610,0:11:01.651 They don't look at pictures of the poses. 0:11:01.675,0:11:04.202 We don't want to prime them[br]with a concept of power. 0:11:04.226,0:11:05.859 We want them to be feeling power. 0:11:05.883,0:11:07.218 So two minutes they do this. 0:11:07.242,0:11:10.427 We then ask them, "How powerful[br]do you feel?" on a series of items, 0:11:10.451,0:11:12.794 and then we give them[br]an opportunity to gamble, 0:11:12.818,0:11:15.559 and then we take another saliva sample. 0:11:15.583,0:11:17.441 That's it. That's the whole experiment. 0:11:17.465,0:11:19.026 So this is what we find. 0:11:19.050,0:11:20.930 Risk tolerance, which is the gambling, 0:11:20.954,0:11:25.068 we find that when you are[br]in the high-power pose condition, 0:11:25.092,0:11:27.226 86 percent of you will gamble. 0:11:27.250,0:11:29.346 When you're in the low-power[br]pose condition, 0:11:29.370,0:11:33.346 only 60 percent, and that's[br]a whopping significant difference. 0:11:33.370,0:11:35.826 Here's what we find on testosterone. 0:11:35.850,0:11:38.363 From their baseline when they come in, 0:11:38.387,0:11:41.693 high-power people experience[br]about a 20-percent increase, 0:11:41.717,0:11:46.314 and low-power people experience[br]about a 10-percent decrease. 0:11:46.338,0:11:49.131 So again, two minutes,[br]and you get these changes. 0:11:49.155,0:11:51.132 Here's what you get on cortisol. 0:11:51.156,0:11:54.930 High-power people experience[br]about a 25-percent decrease, 0:11:54.954,0:11:59.062 and the low-power people experience[br]about a 15-percent increase. 0:11:59.086,0:12:01.794 So two minutes lead[br]to these hormonal changes 0:12:01.818,0:12:03.438 that configure your brain 0:12:03.462,0:12:07.739 to basically be either assertive,[br]confident and comfortable, 0:12:07.763,0:12:12.816 or really stress-reactive,[br]and feeling sort of shut down. 0:12:12.840,0:12:15.603 And we've all had the feeling, right? 0:12:15.627,0:12:20.811 So it seems that our nonverbals do govern[br]how we think and feel about ourselves, 0:12:20.835,0:12:23.267 so it's not just others,[br]but it's also ourselves. 0:12:23.291,0:12:25.694 Also, our bodies change our minds. 0:12:25.718,0:12:28.100 But the next question, of course, 0:12:28.124,0:12:29.944 is, can power posing for a few minutes 0:12:29.968,0:12:32.005 really change your life[br]in meaningful ways? 0:12:32.029,0:12:36.322 This is in the lab, it's this little task,[br]it's just a couple of minutes. 0:12:36.346,0:12:38.087 Where can you actually apply this? 0:12:38.111,0:12:39.922 Which we cared about, of course. 0:12:39.946,0:12:46.687 And so we think where you want to use this[br]is evaluative situations, 0:12:46.711,0:12:49.164 like social threat situations. 0:12:49.188,0:12:51.744 Where are you being evaluated,[br]either by your friends? 0:12:51.768,0:12:53.825 For teenagers,[br]it's at the lunchroom table. 0:12:53.849,0:12:58.122 For some people it's speaking[br]at a school board meeting. 0:12:58.146,0:13:01.910 It might be giving a pitch[br]or giving a talk like this 0:13:01.934,0:13:04.708 or doing a job interview. 0:13:04.732,0:13:07.400 We decided that the one[br]that most people could relate to 0:13:07.424,0:13:10.319 because most people had been through,[br]was the job interview. 0:13:10.343,0:13:13.074 So we published these findings, 0:13:13.098,0:13:14.659 and the media are all over it, 0:13:14.683,0:13:16.758 and they say, Okay, so this is what you do 0:13:16.782,0:13:18.855 when you go in[br]for the job interview, right? 0:13:18.879,0:13:19.886 (Laughter) 0:13:19.910,0:13:22.357 You know, so we were of course[br]horrified, and said, 0:13:22.381,0:13:24.653 Oh my God, no,[br]that's not what we meant at all. 0:13:24.677,0:13:26.917 For numerous reasons, no, don't do that. 0:13:26.941,0:13:29.508 Again, this is not about you[br]talking to other people. 0:13:29.532,0:13:31.093 It's you talking to yourself. 0:13:31.117,0:13:34.176 What do you do before you go[br]into a job interview? You do this. 0:13:34.200,0:13:36.742 You're sitting down.[br]You're looking at your iPhone -- 0:13:36.766,0:13:39.028 or your Android, not trying[br]to leave anyone out. 0:13:39.052,0:13:40.922 You're looking at your notes, 0:13:40.946,0:13:42.946 you're hunching up, making yourself small, 0:13:42.970,0:13:45.399 when really what you should[br]be doing maybe is this, 0:13:45.423,0:13:48.460 like, in the bathroom, right?[br]Do that. Find two minutes. 0:13:48.484,0:13:50.246 So that's what we want to test. Okay? 0:13:50.270,0:13:52.064 So we bring people into a lab, 0:13:52.088,0:13:55.441 and they do either high-[br]or low-power poses again, 0:13:55.465,0:13:58.073 they go through[br]a very stressful job interview. 0:13:58.097,0:14:01.689 It's five minutes long.[br]They are being recorded. 0:14:01.713,0:14:03.670 They're being judged also, 0:14:03.694,0:14:08.175 and the judges are trained[br]to give no nonverbal feedback, 0:14:08.199,0:14:09.758 so they look like this. 0:14:09.985,0:14:12.066 Imagine this is the person[br]interviewing you. 0:14:12.090,0:14:16.689 So for five minutes, nothing,[br]and this is worse than being heckled. 0:14:16.713,0:14:18.353 People hate this. 0:14:18.377,0:14:22.093 It's what Marianne LaFrance calls[br]"standing in social quicksand." 0:14:22.117,0:14:23.902 So this really spikes your cortisol. 0:14:23.926,0:14:26.212 So this is the job interview[br]we put them through, 0:14:26.236,0:14:28.433 because we really wanted[br]to see what happened. 0:14:28.457,0:14:31.540 We then have these coders look[br]at these tapes, four of them. 0:14:31.564,0:14:34.712 They're blind to the hypothesis.[br]They're blind to the conditions. 0:14:34.736,0:14:37.497 They have no idea[br]who's been posing in what pose, 0:14:37.521,0:14:42.587 and they end up looking[br]at these sets of tapes, 0:14:42.611,0:14:44.759 and they say,[br]"We want to hire these people," 0:14:44.783,0:14:46.284 all the high-power posers. 0:14:46.308,0:14:48.081 "We don't want to hire these people. 0:14:48.105,0:14:51.922 We also evaluate these people[br]much more positively overall." 0:14:51.946,0:14:53.586 But what's driving it? 0:14:53.610,0:14:55.602 It's not about the content of the speech. 0:14:55.626,0:14:58.478 It's about the presence[br]that they're bringing to the speech. 0:14:58.502,0:15:00.979 Because we rate them[br]on all these variables 0:15:01.003,0:15:04.542 related to competence,[br]like, how well-structured is the speech? 0:15:04.566,0:15:06.800 How good is it?[br]What are their qualifications? 0:15:06.824,0:15:09.450 No effect on those things.[br]This is what's affected. 0:15:09.474,0:15:11.173 These kinds of things. 0:15:11.197,0:15:13.588 People are bringing[br]their true selves, basically. 0:15:13.612,0:15:15.002 They're bringing themselves. 0:15:15.026,0:15:17.125 They bring their ideas, but as themselves, 0:15:17.149,0:15:19.361 with no, you know, residue over them. 0:15:19.385,0:15:24.292 So this is what's driving the effect,[br]or mediating the effect. 0:15:24.316,0:15:27.660 So when I tell people about this, 0:15:27.684,0:15:31.039 that our bodies change our minds[br]and our minds can change our behavior, 0:15:31.063,0:15:33.815 and our behavior can change[br]our outcomes, they say to me, 0:15:33.839,0:15:35.382 "It feels fake." Right? 0:15:35.406,0:15:37.284 So I said, fake it till you make it. 0:15:37.308,0:15:39.161 It's not me. 0:15:39.185,0:15:42.336 I don't want to get there[br]and then still feel like a fraud. 0:15:42.360,0:15:44.170 I don't want to feel like an impostor. 0:15:44.194,0:15:48.267 I don't want to get there only to feel[br]like I'm not supposed to be here. 0:15:48.291,0:15:50.454 And that really resonated with me, 0:15:50.478,0:15:53.700 because I want to tell you[br]a little story about being an impostor 0:15:53.724,0:15:55.922 and feeling like[br]I'm not supposed to be here. 0:15:55.946,0:15:58.863 When I was 19, I was[br]in a really bad car accident. 0:15:58.887,0:16:02.268 I was thrown out of a car,[br]rolled several times. 0:16:02.292,0:16:04.150 I was thrown from the car. 0:16:04.174,0:16:07.138 And I woke up in a head injury rehab ward, 0:16:07.162,0:16:09.371 and I had been withdrawn from college, 0:16:09.395,0:16:15.083 and I learned that my IQ had dropped[br]by two standard deviations, 0:16:15.107,0:16:17.671 which was very traumatic. 0:16:17.695,0:16:20.542 I knew my IQ because[br]I had identified with being smart, 0:16:20.566,0:16:22.554 and I had been called gifted as a child. 0:16:22.578,0:16:25.754 So I'm taken out of college,[br]I keep trying to go back. 0:16:25.778,0:16:27.978 They say, "You're not going[br]to finish college. 0:16:28.002,0:16:30.555 Just, you know, there are other[br]things for you to do, 0:16:30.579,0:16:32.579 but that's not going to work out for you." 0:16:32.603,0:16:36.137 So I really struggled[br]with this, and I have to say, 0:16:36.161,0:16:38.911 having your identity taken[br]from you, your core identity, 0:16:38.935,0:16:40.770 and for me it was being smart, 0:16:40.794,0:16:42.433 having that taken from you, 0:16:42.457,0:16:45.556 there's nothing that leaves you feeling[br]more powerless than that. 0:16:45.580,0:16:47.359 So I felt entirely powerless. 0:16:47.383,0:16:49.245 I worked and worked, and I got lucky, 0:16:49.269,0:16:51.115 and worked, and got lucky, and worked. 0:16:51.139,0:16:53.367 Eventually I graduated from college. 0:16:53.391,0:16:55.391 It took me four years[br]longer than my peers, 0:16:55.415,0:16:59.732 and I convinced someone,[br]my angel advisor, Susan Fiske, 0:16:59.756,0:17:02.676 to take me on,[br]and so I ended up at Princeton, 0:17:02.700,0:17:05.527 and I was like,[br]I am not supposed to be here. 0:17:05.551,0:17:06.821 I am an impostor. 0:17:06.845,0:17:08.750 And the night before my first-year talk, 0:17:08.774,0:17:12.273 and the first-year talk at Princeton[br]is a 20-minute talk to 20 people. 0:17:12.297,0:17:13.475 That's it. 0:17:13.499,0:17:15.962 I was so afraid of being[br]found out the next day 0:17:15.986,0:17:18.775 that I called her[br]and said, "I'm quitting." 0:17:18.799,0:17:20.631 She was like, "You are not quitting, 0:17:20.655,0:17:23.189 because I took a gamble[br]on you, and you're staying. 0:17:23.213,0:17:25.980 You're going to stay, and this is[br]what you're going to do. 0:17:26.004,0:17:27.337 You are going to fake it. 0:17:27.361,0:17:30.517 You're going to do every talk[br]that you ever get asked to do. 0:17:30.541,0:17:32.780 You're just going to do it[br]and do it and do it, 0:17:32.804,0:17:35.225 even if you're terrified[br]and just paralyzed 0:17:35.249,0:17:37.598 and having an out-of-body experience, 0:17:37.622,0:17:40.968 until you have this moment where you say,[br]'Oh my gosh, I'm doing it. 0:17:40.992,0:17:43.934 Like, I have become this.[br]I am actually doing this.'" 0:17:43.958,0:17:45.053 So that's what I did. 0:17:45.077,0:17:46.461 Five years in grad school, 0:17:46.485,0:17:48.585 a few years, you know,[br]I'm at Northwestern, 0:17:48.609,0:17:50.672 I moved to Harvard, I'm at Harvard, 0:17:50.696,0:17:54.672 I'm not really thinking about it anymore,[br]but for a long time I had been thinking, 0:17:54.696,0:17:56.478 "Not supposed to be here." 0:17:56.502,0:17:59.195 So at the end of my first year at Harvard, 0:17:59.219,0:18:03.520 a student who had not talked[br]in class the entire semester, 0:18:03.544,0:18:07.211 who I had said, "Look, you've gotta[br]participate or else you're going to fail," 0:18:07.235,0:18:09.759 came into my office.[br]I really didn't know her at all. 0:18:09.783,0:18:13.211 She came in totally defeated,[br]and she said, 0:18:13.235,0:18:16.361 "I'm not supposed to be here." 0:18:20.111,0:18:22.068 And that was the moment for me. 0:18:22.092,0:18:23.684 Because two things happened. 0:18:23.708,0:18:24.978 One was that I realized, 0:18:25.002,0:18:28.112 oh my gosh,[br]I don't feel like that anymore. 0:18:28.136,0:18:31.136 I don't feel that anymore,[br]but she does, and I get that feeling. 0:18:31.160,0:18:33.431 And the second was,[br]she is supposed to be here! 0:18:33.455,0:18:35.408 Like, she can fake it, she can become it. 0:18:35.432,0:18:38.975 So I was like, "Yes, you are![br]You are supposed to be here! 0:18:38.999,0:18:40.761 And tomorrow you're going to fake it, 0:18:40.785,0:18:43.474 you're going to make yourself[br]powerful, and, you know -- 0:18:43.498,0:18:48.891 (Applause) 0:18:48.915,0:18:52.969 And you're going to go[br]into the classroom, 0:18:52.993,0:18:55.393 and you are going to give[br]the best comment ever." 0:18:55.417,0:18:58.398 You know? And she gave[br]the best comment ever, 0:18:58.422,0:19:00.361 and people turned around and were like, 0:19:00.385,0:19:03.305 oh my God, I didn't even notice her[br]sitting there. (Laughter) 0:19:03.329,0:19:05.122 She comes back to me months later, 0:19:05.146,0:19:08.186 and I realized that she had not just[br]faked it till she made it, 0:19:08.210,0:19:10.584 she had actually faked it[br]till she became it. 0:19:10.608,0:19:12.407 So she had changed. 0:19:12.431,0:19:16.491 And so I want to say to you,[br]don't fake it till you make it. 0:19:16.515,0:19:19.288 Fake it till you become it. 0:19:19.312,0:19:22.929 Do it enough until you actually[br]become it and internalize. 0:19:22.953,0:19:25.584 The last thing I'm going[br]to leave you with is this. 0:19:25.608,0:19:30.056 Tiny tweaks can lead to big changes. 0:19:30.080,0:19:32.553 So, this is two minutes. 0:19:32.577,0:19:34.387 Two minutes, two minutes, two minutes. 0:19:34.411,0:19:37.535 Before you go into the next stressful[br]evaluative situation, 0:19:37.559,0:19:40.241 for two minutes, try doing this,[br]in the elevator, 0:19:40.265,0:19:43.480 in a bathroom stall, at your desk[br]behind closed doors. 0:19:43.504,0:19:44.907 That's what you want to do. 0:19:44.931,0:19:47.742 Configure your brain[br]to cope the best in that situation. 0:19:47.766,0:19:50.707 Get your testosterone up.[br]Get your cortisol down. 0:19:50.731,0:19:54.673 Don't leave that situation feeling[br]like, oh, I didn't show them who I am. 0:19:54.697,0:19:56.397 Leave that situation feeling like, 0:19:56.421,0:19:59.393 I really feel like I got to say[br]who I am and show who I am. 0:19:59.417,0:20:05.184 So I want to ask you first, you know,[br]both to try power posing, 0:20:05.208,0:20:10.298 and also I want to ask you to share[br]the science, because this is simple. 0:20:10.322,0:20:12.475 I don't have ego involved in this.[br](Laughter) 0:20:12.499,0:20:14.262 Give it away. Share it with people, 0:20:14.286,0:20:16.706 because the people who can use it the most 0:20:16.730,0:20:20.081 are the ones with no resources[br]and no technology 0:20:20.105,0:20:22.279 and no status and no power. 0:20:22.303,0:20:24.851 Give it to them[br]because they can do it in private. 0:20:24.875,0:20:27.319 They need their bodies,[br]privacy and two minutes, 0:20:27.343,0:20:30.469 and it can significantly change[br]the outcomes of their life. 0:20:30.493,0:20:31.624 Thank you. 0:20:31.648,0:20:34.679 (Applause)