Does The Power Pose Really Work?

Sales development training will often emphasise the need to appear confident at all times, in your voice, in what you are selling and in your body.

You may have heard of the power pose, particularly when it received significant ridicule in the press, following its appearance at the Conservative Party Conference in 2015.

Most famously proposed in a popular Ted Talk by Harvard Academic Amy Cuddy, the premise behind the power pose is that if you stand tall and appear dominant, you will feel, and therefore behave in a dominant and confident manner.

Increasingly however, people are asking if it really works?

Psychologist Oliver Burkeman points to the fact that there is actually very little evidence that it does work. There have been a number of studies that have shown it has no effect on feelings or behaviour, and could even be called junk science.

This does not mean that you should dismiss it entirely though. While it has not performed well under test conditions, there is a certain placebo effect that can be helpful in this situation.

This means that if you try it then it may work, because you think it can!

So try it next time you have a big presentation or a job interview to give you a bit of an edge. Stand up tall with your chest broadened, your legs slightly apart and your hands down by your side. It may just be the little boost that you need to clinch that big deal.