I thought Cuddy was missing a trick by not addressing the whole unconscious mind – body movement – conscious thought progression. You also need to work directly on the unconscious mind by affirming your confidence or success or whatever is your particular need. That bothered me, because my experience and work with my clients suggests that the unconscious mind will still send up those little thoughts that undermine your confidence if all you do is power pose. Her TED talk suggested that all you had to do was adopt a power pose – standing like Wonder Woman, for example – and you would boost your testosterone (gaining confidence) and lower your cortisol (decreasing stress) and thus improve your subsequent performance.

I’ve argued with her via the Internet about the relative importance of power poses and mental self-talk. But I wonder, do you have to get hit over the head to wake up to the connections going on here?

Those of you who have read my book Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing your Personal Impact, published in 2014, will know that it begins with my story of my traumatic brain injury leading to my lifelong interest in body language and the deep connections between body and mind. Amy Cuddy’s wonderful book, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to your Biggest Challenges, published in 2015, begins with a story of her traumatic brain injury leading to her lifelong interest in body language and the deep connections between body and mind.

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