Last month at New Orleans Bookfest, I shared to a full room the emotional power pose.
What is the emotional power pose? It’s a simple mental exercise you can do before a high-stakes event to dramatically increase your chance of success.
Think about a pitch, an interview, a negotiation, or a performance review. Each of these situations causes stress because we feel a power dynamic. We’re about to step into a meeting with someone who has power over our success.
These situations are important but intimidating.
We all know the traditional power pose – stand with our feet wide, hands on our hips or overhead to expand and feel BIG. But research suggests physical power-posing may not be all that effective at changing our performance.
Conversely, years of research show the emotional power pose will bring you success.
Here’s what you do:
🟢 20 minutes before the big moment, sit down with a pen, paper, and a list of values. You can pull a list of values off the internet or use the list from the research (page 157 in The Science of Personal Power).
🟢 Identify your top three values from the list. From those, choose your top value. This value isn’t about the situation per se, it’s a value you hold most dear in your life.
🟢 For 4-5 minutes, write about why that value is important to your life. You might end up with anywhere from half a page to a full page of writing.
That’s it! Research suggests you’re now twice as likely to succeed in the upcoming situation.
Why does this work? When you sit and write about an important value for several minutes, you shift your mind and emotions to anchor inwards on yourself rather than outwards worrying about others. This inward anchoring automatically makes you show up differently – with more confidence that signals your power.
The most important part is the writing. This can’t be skipped, because it’s the pen-to-paper for four minutes that shifts your mind inward.