Topic
Power Posing
Studied in independent labs across the world, the core effect has been found in nearly every study ever conducted on it. Here's what the science shows.
Power posing is the practice of deliberately adopting expansive, open, high-power postures — standing tall, taking up space, holding your body in a way that signals confidence rather than contraction. The research shows, consistently and across dozens of independent studies, that doing this changes how you feel: it raises your sense of power, reduces anxiety, and prepares you to perform at your best in high-stakes moments.
This is not a theory about tricking other people. It is a finding about the relationship between your body and your mind — a relationship that runs in both directions. We know we stand tall when we feel confident. What the research adds is the other direction: we feel more confident when we stand tall. The effect is real, it is consistent, and it has been replicated in lab after lab around the world.
A meta-analysis of 55 independent studies — published in Psychological Science in 2018 — found clear, robust evidential value for the effect of expansive posture on feelings of power. The specific hormonal mechanisms proposed in the original 2010 paper remain a subject of ongoing scientific investigation. The core psychological and behavioural effect does not.
Heard that power posing was “debunked”? I've written a detailed account of what the peer-reviewed record actually shows.
Read: The State of the ScienceIn My Own Words
“Bodies and minds are so closely connected — and I want people to understand that and use it. When you feel powerless, expanding your body can begin to reverse that. That's not a trick. That's physiology.”
The principle underlying power posing is one of the oldest and most robust in psychology: the body and mind are not separate systems. They are in constant conversation. Your physical state shapes your mental state. Your mental state shapes your physical state. This bidirectional relationship is at the heart of my work — and it is supported by decades of independent research extending far beyond power posing alone.
The practical message has always been simple: in the moments before something matters, don't collapse inward. Expand. Not to perform confidence for others — but to access the confidence that is already yours.
TED Edinburgh · 2012 · 75M+ Views · 3rd Most-Watched TED Talk of All Time
Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are
The talk that introduced 75 million people to the science of presence — and changed how a generation thought about their own bodies.
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