I just wrapped up an awesome week at Louisiana State University where I taught a Fundamentals of Communication course. The class’s final project involves parodying an episode of The Daily Show as a way to teach the types of communication Trevor Noah and team covers: rhetoric, performance studies, and communication theory.
To help the class prepare for their project, I taught a 2-class comedy bootcamp that covered the theory of comedy, exercises to write comedy effectively, and how to be more confident in performing.
So what, Drew? Teach me How To Be more Confident!
Well, while preparing for the presentation, I was doing some research and came across this TED Talk by Amy Cuddy. In it, she talks about the importance of body language and how it shapes who you are.
I’ve long talked about the importance of body language, especially when related to confidence (it’s the basis of my training The Confident Communicator). What was new in Amy’s research was some additional science behind what studies had already found: not only does your mood affect your body language, but your body language affects your mood.
In the talk, Amy explains that holding a “power pose” (a position of confidence) for 2 minutes can increase your testosterone by 20% (helpful for confidence) and reduce your cortisol by 25% (meaning it lowers your stress levels). Just holding a pose for 2 minutes affects your body! That’s incredibly powerful to know. The next time you’re feeling anxious or nervous, maybe before giving a presentation, or during a meeting at work, or right before you get ready to ask that cute girl (or guy) to dance, you can hold a simple power pose to help boost your confidence in that situation.
TED Talk on How to be Confident and Confident Body Language
As Amy says in her talk, “Our bodies change our minds… and our minds change our behavior … and our behavior changes our outcomes.” Check out the talk here.
