People have known for years that not only do our moods affect our body language, but our body language affects our moods. See for instance Yet Another Reason to Watch Your Body Language: It Can Make You Happier
Amy Cuddy explains this in her TED talk, Your body language shapes who you are. I was impressed by her presentation from the start, but I didn’t expect to be so moved by her personal story at the end. (Click here for the transcript.)
Wow, Amy! Wow!
May 5, 2015
Very interesting to revisit the talk but old dogs find it difficult to learn new tricks!
Your life seems to be going quite well, so no need to make changes. 🙂
I’ve seen this TED talk on YouTube, but I was glad for the reminder. Remarkable, isn’t it?
Yes! This was the first time I saw it.
i always enjoy ted talks. such a wonderful way to gain new knowledge and insight.
she is beautiful. and like you say… her story… wow.
i made the screen full size so i could see her facial expression more easily.
something that bothered me throughout. her hair literally covered her left eye.
perhaps there is a scar she hides. i don’t know. but i felt she was hiding half of herself from us. odd to think that. given her speech. but i just wanted to brush it back and say … show your face! walk your talk! be open and confident!
i think hair plays a very important role in our ‘body language too.’
but again… maybe a scar from the car accident makes her wear it that way.
thanks monk. as always a fascinating post!
I didn’t notice the hair, but after your comment I checked out images of her on Google. She usually wears her hair that way, but the hair isn’t usually covering the eye so much. I don’t think that style is that much different than bangs, when other people use it. It would drive me crazy. Even if she were hiding a scar, I don’t think that would detract from her message. If anything it would make me admire her more.
I’ve seen a few TED talks and I’ve love how inspiring they are.
This one was good too and definitely something to try to remember.
I read Tammy’s comment and while her hair didn’t distract me so much as her trying to conceal her sniffing. I started concentrating on how she would wait until the end of a sentence and draw in a breathe through her nose as if she was just trying to take in air but then do this subtle sniff thing. I wanted her to stop and say “Anyone have a tissue? I need to blow my nose.” I almost thought she was doing it on purpose and at the end of her talk, she would bring it up as an example.
If she had done that, she would have shown that she was a strong personality who wouldn’t let a nose that was trying to drip, undermine her message.
So I guess she inadvertently showed how true her take on body language really was.
But still, it was good message.
I know that I am always conscience of my posture and try to stand with my shoulders back but if I start to slump a bit and then see someone else all hunched over, I immediately stretch my shoulder blades backwards.
I do it for 2 reasons though. One being how badly a slumped over person looks and the other, for the pain that a bent back causes.
Another great post! Thank you!
xo
I must say, I didn’t notice the sniff either. I was impressed with her and the speech.
I wonder what people make of my constant fidgeting and scratching. I seem to produce a lot of static electricity and that’s what makes me fidget and scratch. But others probably interpret it as nervousness. Which might also be true of course.
I have a distinct lack of male body language. I tend to be quite still and unassuming, as opposed to the usual male strutting and pomposity, which just strikes me as laughable.
I agree with the posturing being laughable. 🙂
I wasn’t looking or listening to her own body language – rather taking in what she was saying – so maybe when I said I was more a visual learner is more in relationship to a static picture that I’m not required to interpret as such.
But some of it does resonate me as I find my way on my new artistic journey and although I haven’t done it so much in the real world – I see myself not as an emerging artist but rather as artist which in some ways has something to do with one of the first DVD in my course which stated we should always say “I’m an artist” when asked our occupation etc.
I know what you mean. It’s scary to say, “I am an artist.” I suppose we worry about setting ourselves up to be judged. That’s why I like Julia Cameron. She says our job is to create and not worry about whether or not it is any good.
Lynda Barry says, “Waste time and materials.” So I’m not an artist, I just waste time and materials and see what happens.