Business Chicks
Amy Cuddy

There I was, seated in a room with 400 other women, at an event to which our guest presenter had travelled all the way from the USA to present. I was so eager to hear this inspiring woman’s presentation about “The power of presence and importance of posture”…

Ever since watching her Ted talk over a year ago I have been obsessed with Amy Cuddy (and I’m not alone with over 4 million other people having watched it too!).

Amy Cuddy is known as the ‘Power Pose Lady’. Yet there is far more to Amy than her Ted talk and poses. She is a Harvard Business School Professor and Social Psychologist. Amy studies how nonverbal behaviour influences people and her research has been published in top academic journals.


Being present
Amy has also authored a book called Presence, and began her presentation talking about just that – being present.

I hung off every word and easily related what she was telling us, to how I feel when presenting concepts to clients – her presentation was perfect for this!

Amy summed up her advice and reasoning about Presence into a single slide (see left).

The power of posture
The second part of Amy’s presentation focused on the power of posture. She explained how when we feel accomplished our automatic reaction is to raise our arms above our head (as if you are a gymnast completing a routine at the Olympics). Amy explained how even people who are totally blind do this same automatic reaction – which proves how in-built the response is to us all. I myself recalled how my arms went up high above my head the moment I was crowned Miss Oktoberfest Brisbane 2016! So it must be true!

Amy’s research has shown that this specific pose gives us power and confidence even when we are not feeling so flash. So using this pose is an actual way that we can draw out our inner strengths and seize a moment with more confidence.

Amy concluded her presentation into four significant pointers to take into our daily life (see right).

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Amy and learning more about how to develop confidence and ‘stand proud’ – even when I may be nervous as all heck on the inside!

Gemma Jestico
Designer – Salt Design

salt-shaker-signoffBecause everything is better with a sprinkle of salt!
SALT.Shaker