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Be Like Beyonce

June 29, 2016  |  Posted by Nick Peterson  |  5600 Views

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Science Says Be like Beyonce

It’s pitch black. The screams of 30,000 fans are deafening. The base starts to kick in as the screams get louder. The floors beneath the bleachers start to tremble and the spotlight hits the main stage. There’s a brief moment of silence and all that can be seen is a silhouette in a power stance. Her hands are on her hips, chest high, her regal posture beckons her audience to lean in for a treat. Before a word leaves her lips she has control of every beaming face in the arena. Suddenly, Beyonce speaks and the crowd erupts to obey her every whim.

Now imagine you are Beyonce.

Every day the first thing we do is focus on our words.  We log into our computers and make it our primary goal to read through our emails and listen to our voicemails, searching for ways to connect with others. Learning to craft affective verbal communications has become our daily routine.  We base our business practices off of these habits, when in actuality the roots of communicative strengths are embedded in our physicality. Ultimately, non-verbal communications are more telling than any other form of expression. Which makes us wonder: when doing business, what subconscious messages are we conveying? Are we carrying ourselves in meetings in the same manner that we construct our delicately worded emails? Where is our inner Beyonce?

In one of the most watched TED talks of all time (currently at 34 million views) called “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” Harvard social psychologist Amy Cuddy explains through her study that power can be achieved through the “fake it til’ you become it” method of “power posing.”

Writer/Comedian Tina Fey

The “power pose,” also known as the “Super Woman”, is used to convey a particular level of confidence that you would find in any authoritative figure. If it doesn’t feel right, Cuddy suggests, keep doing it until it does! Channel Beyonce and ultimately reap the rewards.

She asks, “Can power posing really change your life in meaningful ways? Where can you actually apply this? Where you want to use this is evaluative situations like a social threat situation…. For some it might be speaking at a school board meeting. For others it might be giving a pitch….or doing a job interview.”

She continues to suggest that we should try standing in a Superwoman position for two minutes before entering into an uneasy situation.

MacNeill Group wants our agent partners to be and feel strong, and this study is glaring proof that success stems directly from our attitudes.

Cuddy concludes with the poignant statement as her study and philosophy:  “Our bodies change our minds… and our minds can change our behavior…and our behavior changes our outcomes.”

 

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