Ace that interview: how body language can change your career

Last year I was preparing for a job interview when I happened to stumble across this great TED talk from Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business School professor, about how tiny changes in your body language can radically change your job performance and career.

She says certain “power poses” immediately change your body chemistry. I took her advice of standing in front of a mirror for two minutes holding my "super-women high power" pose before my interview (not during it!) to give me confidence...It must have worked as I got the job.

Not only is this talk useful for interviews (if you don't want to listen to her whole talk, she starts talking about interviews and power poses from the 13 minute mark), it's also good for changing the way people perceive you and, importantly, affect the way you actually perform. Professor Cuddy concluded her talk with a startling revelation about herself and how she was able to not just "fake it till I make it" but was able to fake it until she became it.

The biggest take-away from this talk for me was your body language can change people's perceptions of you, and even your own brain - simply by changing body positions.

It's a goodie. I have shared it with a few people since as they prepare for interviews, job reviews and more. And based on feedback, it seems to work!

The full video is below.