Wondering why you’re getting off on the wrong foot with everyone? Well, it could be based on your body language.

Amy Cuddy’s TED talk is so inspiring that we’ve talked about it before. But it’s easy to forget that you should always be aware of the non-verbal signals you are giving off.

Amy knows how important nonverbal behavior is. How a handshake, a smile or a frown, can have people talking for weeks – all, of course, supported by scientific documentation and studies.

But how does this relate back to you? Amy’s area of expertise is social psychology and prejudice. She has found that non-verbals in this area are all about power dynamics between people.

If you want to express power in your pose, you should try the classic Wonder Woman pose. Put your hands on your hips with your legs apart. You’re expanding yourself and taking up more space in the room.

But if you make your body small and close your arms around yourself, you are communicating weakness.

Through Amy Cuddy’s research she has found that standing in power poses dramatically increases testosterone and decreases cortisol whilst standing in powerless poses does the opposite. Why is this important? Because testosterone and cortisol relate to stress and stress management – high testosterone means better stress management and high cortisol means poorer stress management.

So, in fact, if you want to have a great week you should really work on the signals you’re sending out. Simply stand in a power pose – Wonder Woman is a great one – for two minutes. Do it in private, in the bathroom or in your bedroom, but make sure you do it. Just standing in that power pose for two minutes will increase your confidence, decrease your stress and you’ll be nailing job interviews and performance reviews in no time flat!

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featured photo: dansinvogue