What You Should Remember
To feel ready ("Technical Minimum"), you need to stand in a big physical position—like standing with your feet apart and hands on your hips—for at least 120 seconds, and do this in private.
Focus on the "Mental Feeling" of the exercise. The goal isn't to look tough for others, but to use your body to tell your own brain that you are secure, competent, and in control.
Do these physical postures in a place where no one can see you—like a bathroom stall or an empty elevator—before your important meeting or interview starts.
Taking up more physical space helps lower your body’s stress chemicals. This stops your mind from going blank (the "brain fog") that comes from pre-performance nerves, letting you speak clearly.
What is Power Posing?
Power posing is the practice of holding open, expansive body positions to influence your psychological state and boost confidence before high-stakes situations. According to social psychologist Amy Cuddy's 2010 research, adopting these poses for at least two minutes can shift your mental state from anxious to ready.
Power poses include standing with your feet wide and hands on your hips (the "Wonder Woman" pose) or sitting with your hands behind your head. These positions take up more physical space than closed postures like slouching or crossing your arms. The goal is not to pose during the interview itself, but to use these stances in private beforehand to calm your nervous system and access clearer thinking when you walk into the room.
How Body Language Affects Talks
Lots of people feel anxious standing in a bathroom stall, trying to look like Superman while their heart pounds. This mix between how you look and how you actually feel creates a "Gap Between Thought and Body." Instead of feeling strong, you feel like a fake. The second you walk into the waiting area and see a serious receptionist, that quick confidence disappears, and your body automatically shrinks into a closed-off, defensive way of standing. This sudden change often leaves you feeling more stressed than before you started.
The common idea that a short, two-minute trick can instantly make you feel dominant ignores that your brain knows it's a trick, causing Cognitive Dissonance. Real confidence doesn't come from quick tricks; it comes from practicing "Being Present and Taking Up Space" all the time. People who naturally seem in charge don't use quick fixes; they practice staying physically open during the whole meeting.
By keeping your body open—making sure your neck isn't hidden, not crossing your arms, and using all the space on your chair—you tell your body it is safe. According to Princeton University psychologists Janine Willis and Alexander Todorov, people form first impressions in as little as 100 milliseconds (one-tenth of a second). This means the interviewer has already judged your competence before you finish your first sentence, so how you hold yourself when you walk in matters more than most candidates realize.
The Steps to Follow
This guide gives you the exact physical and mental steps to build a presence that gets respect and leads to success. For a broader understanding of how nonverbal cues shape interview outcomes, read our guide on the power of non-verbal communication in interviews.
The Body's Signal: The Mindset for Success
The "Superman" pose often doesn't work because it's a short-term trick that your brain sees right through, creating Mental Conflict. To impress a hiring manager, you need to move from just acting big to always Being Present and Taking Up Space. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (2023), the average cost to hire an employee is $4,700, which means interviewers are making expensive decisions based on how you present yourself in the first few minutes. This makes the difference between looking nervous and looking ready worth thousands of dollars in their assessment of whether you're worth the investment.
What They're Secretly Asking
If you stand big in the elevator but then "shrink" when the talk gets hard, the interviewer's gut feeling picks up on the fake act. Research published in Social Psychological and Personality Science shows people assess trustworthiness in as little as 33 milliseconds. Your brain makes these snap judgments constantly during an interview, so a sudden shift from confident to closed tells the interviewer something is off.
What They're Secretly Asking
Closed body language (like crossed arms or hunched shoulders) sends a signal that you are stressed or defensive. By keeping your posture open (showing your wrists, rolling shoulders back), you tell the interviewer’s most basic instincts that you are safe and not a threat, which builds trust quickly.
What They're Secretly Asking
When you "shrink," your body panics, blocking your ability to think clearly. An interviewer tests this with unexpected questions. Staying physically open keeps your brain in a "safe mode," letting you recall information and explain things well when the pressure is on, showing you are ready for the job.
When you make your physical posture open and steady, you calm down your own stress system. This gets rid of hidden warning signs for the interviewer and makes sure your best thinking is available for high-level performance.
Checking Your Confidence: Myth vs. Reality
This check compares common, weak "tricks" against strong, expert ways to truly build confidence by controlling how your body reacts.
The "Fake Feeling": You feel like a fraud because your inner panic doesn't match the "tough" pose you are forcing yourself into.
The Hormone Trick: Hide in the bathroom and do "Superman" poses for two minutes to try to trick your brain into feeling powerful.
Calm Your Body: Stop trying to fake a pose. Instead, keep your posture open and relaxed from the time you arrive. By keeping your neck showing and chest open, you signal to your body that you are safe, which stops your panic response before it even begins.
The Waiting Room Fall: You felt great in the car, but the moment you see a stern person at the desk, you immediately shrink and lose your edge.
The "Just Act Like It" Method: Try to remember the feeling of your power pose and force yourself to look confident through sheer effort.
Always Be Open: You shouldn't wait for the meeting to start to feel big. Practice "taking up space" while you wait. Sit back in your chair, use the armrests, and keep your hands where they can be seen. Being physically open stops your body from going into its natural stressed, defensive position.
The Mind Blank: Your brain gets fuzzy when tough questions come up because your body is tense and you are breathing too shallowly.
The Self-Praise Method: Tell yourself nice things while standing tall to force yourself to believe you are the most important person in the room.
The Body Reset: Truly powerful people use their posture to access deeper thoughts. By keeping your shoulders relaxed and using the full space of your seat, you slow your heart rate down. This physical state keeps your "thinking brain" working, allowing you to answer hard questions with clear thought instead of just panic.
Quick Questions: The Truth About Power Poses
Does power posing actually work?
You are thinking of the 2010 research that claimed posing changed your body chemicals (like stress hormones). Even though later studies had trouble repeating those exact chemical changes, the effect on your mind is still real. A 2017 meta-analysis by the Association for Psychological Science, which reviewed 128 studies, found that power posing has a reliable effect on thoughts and feelings, even though it has no effect on hormone levels. This means you're not faking confidence through chemistry, but through giving your brain a physical signal that it has room to move and doesn't need to panic.
Pro-Tip: Don't do it to change your hormones; do it to change how you sound. Taking up space pushes your chest out, which makes your voice deeper and steadier in the first minute of introductions—that's the moment most people sound shaky. If you want to deepen your mental preparation beyond body language, explore our guide on visualization techniques to boost interview confidence.
Will I look arrogant if I power pose?
This is a common mistake where people try too hard. If you walk into the room still feeling super hyped up from your big pose, you might miss the subtle social cues from the interviewer, and you can look fake. The goal isn't to stay in the pose; it’s to use the pose to reach a "Calmly Confident" state. You want to enter feeling like you belong there, not like you are trying to take control of the room.
What Recruiters See: We can easily spot the difference between someone who is naturally confident and someone who is overdoing it. Use the pose in private to get rid of nervous energy, but once you sit down, switch to a posture that shows you are listening closely (lean forward a little, keep your shoulders relaxed). If you stay too stiff, it looks like you are trying to hide a lack of skill behind a tough look.
Where can I power pose in public?
This is when you use "Hidden Poses." You don't have to stand in the lobby with your hands on your hips. You can get 90% of the benefit using very small movements.
- The Elevator Stretch: Reach your arms up to the ceiling like you are stretching your entire back.
- The Bathroom Secret: Go to the restroom. It’s the only truly private place in most offices. Use two minutes there for the full, big posture.
- The Seated Expansion: While you wait, don't slouch over your phone (this is a "low power" pose). Instead, rest one arm on the back of the empty chair next to you or put both hands behind your head.
Pro-Tip: Put your phone away. Looking down at a screen makes your body look defeated, which makes your brain feel more nervous. Even if you don't do the "Power Pose," just not using your phone puts you ahead of most people. If networking events make you anxious, our guide on how to start a conversation with anyone offers practical techniques to ease into social situations.
Does power posing work for virtual interviews?
It is even more important online. You lose most of your body language on camera. All your energy has to come through your voice and your face. If you spend the five minutes before a call hunched over your keyboard, your lungs are squeezed, and your energy feels "small."
What Recruiters See: We focus on your "on-screen presence." If you do a standing power pose for 60 seconds before you join the call, your heart calms down and your posture naturally stays upright. This stops the "Zoom Slouch"—that slow slide where you end up looking like you’re melting into your chair during the meeting. Stand up, pose, and then sit down with your back two inches taller than normal. This changes how you sound over the microphone.
How long should I hold a power pose?
Hold the pose for at least two full minutes. Research suggests this is the minimum time needed to shift your mental state from anxious to ready. Set a timer on your phone so you don't cut it short. One minute feels long when you're standing alone in a bathroom stall, but the second minute is when the psychological shift happens.
Pro-Tip: If two minutes feels too awkward or you're pressed for time, even 60 seconds of expansive posture is better than walking straight from your car into the lobby while hunched over your phone. The goal is to break the closed-off pattern your body defaults to when you're nervous.
Can I power pose during the interview?
No. The full "hands on hips" or "arms raised" poses are for private moments only. During the interview, use subtle open postures instead: sit with your back against the chair (don't perch on the edge like you're about to run), keep your hands visible on the table or armrests, and avoid crossing your arms or ankles.
What Recruiters See: The best candidates walk in calm and stay open throughout the conversation. If you do a power pose beforehand, you'll naturally carry that steadiness into the room without needing to think about your posture. Forcing a "power pose" while answering questions makes you look stiff and disconnected from the conversation.
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Take Up Your Space
Stop hiding in a bathroom trying to "trick" yourself out of feeling like a fraud. Close the gap between what you think and what your body does by deciding to always stand and sit in a way that takes up space, from the moment you show up until the moment you leave.
Claim your space, signal to yourself that you are safe, and lead the conversation with the calm confidence you have truly earned.
Start Being Authoritative
