What is your body language saying?

What is your body language saying?

This past week my husband had to travel to Philadelphia to speak in front of crowd. Now, he’s used to public speaking, it’s part of his job, but this time was different. This time he was a speaker alongside a competitor in the same business and the company that was hosting the conference billed it as a “match” between Eric and the other man. This made Eric a bit uncomfortable because even though my husband is extremely competitive he’s also a very nice guy who likes everyone–even his competitors.

We were texting as Eric waited for his presentation to begin. I wished him luck and he told me he was chewing gum in preparation for his speech. This was a joke aimed at me because there have been many times when I’ve asked Eric to kindly remove the gum from his mouth because it was giving him an extra sense of cockiness and energy that was not the husband I’ve known for twenty-three years. Eric naturally has a tremendous amount of energy. Give him gum and it’s too much to handle! He never really believed me about the gum. He claimed to have no idea of what I was talking about. Well, then I stumbled upon this TED Talk. Amy Cuddy says Fake it until you become it. Tests  have proven that when our body takes on a strong pose our testosterone levels increase and our cortisone levels decrease giving us a stronger presence–more confidence. Ha! I bet the gum acts like a strong positive stance making his testosterone levels rocket. I have to admit I sat with a pen in my mouth making me smile just to see if a forced smile really does make you feel happy. Yep, I felt happier but I’m not sure if that was because I was laughing at my ridiculous self sitting there with a pen in my mouth. Either way it works!

Our bodies change our minds…

and our minds change our behavior…

and our behavior changes our outcomes.  Amy Cuddy