Power & Influence

People decide how competent you are in 100 milliseconds.

Deborah Gruenfeld

When people want to make an impression, most think a lot about what they want to say. Stanford Business Professor Deborah Gruenfeld cautions you to think twice about that approach. The factors influencing how people see you are surprising: Words account for 7% of what they take away, while body language counts for 55%. There is a body language of power. Gruenfeld introduces the body languages of authority and being approachable. Becoming fluent in matching body language to each situation can be a source of power and influence. Gruenfeld also shares leading social science research on the ways in which body language affects your psychology, in addition to influencing how others perceive you.

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Key Takeaways

People decide how competent you are in a fraction of a second.

Factors used to determine your competence: 7% words, 38% presentation, and 55% body language.

Body language can communicate power and status — it sets the stage for who is leading and who is following.

The Body Language of Power

To be perceived as authoritative, act HIGH

Be expansive, take up maximum space
Speak in complete sentences
Hold eye contact when talking
Don’t monitor the responses of others

To be perceived as approachable, act LOW

Maintain a tight, close body
Speak cautiously
Avoid direct eye contact
Smile and nod in agreement

Women and Power

The body language of power are tools to meet dual and competing expectations of women:

To act authoritative in keeping with the expectations of their organizational roles

To act approachable in keeping with the expectations of their gender role

Acting with Power

Modify body language to influence the dynamics of relationships, interactions, and outcomes.
Match your body language to the message or intention.

Additional Information

View Power & Influence Resources

Read more about Power & Influence:

For Women Leaders, Body Language Matters: In Gender News, Professor Deborah Gruenfeld explains her research on body language and power, showing that women's body language and posture often "give away power."
The Confidence Game - How to Bring Out Your Inner Hotshot: An Oprah.com article details how one of Professor Deborah Gruenfeld's students used body language to shift power dynamics.
Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are: In a TED talk, Professor Amy Cuddy discusses her research on how body language not only affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves.
Researchers - How Women Can Succeed in the Workplace: This article details a Stanford Graduate School of Business study that demonstrated how, in the business world, women who can turn on and off the traits of agression and confidence get more promotions than either men or other women.
Power Moves: Lessons From AMC's Mad Men: Psychology Today summarizes research on dominant or submissive postural stances in response to other's posturing, finding that these adaptations are an unconscious behavoral response to competition.
Power Sitting: How you sit influences how powerful you feel: Different seating postures literally make you feel more powerful and more comfortable moving ahead in risky endeavors, according to a study summarized in Psychology Today.
Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up: Author Patricia Ryan Madson explains how to use the attitudes and techniques of improvisational theater to address everyday challenges.
Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre: Keith Johnstone explores the use of body language to establish status when performing in the theater, finding results widely applicable in professional and personal situations.

View Power & Influence References

Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance

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When Professionals Become Mothers, Warmth Doesn't Cut the Ice

Cuddy, A. J. C., Fiske, S. T. and Glick, P. 2004. "When Professionals Become Mothers, Warmth Doesn't Cut the Ice." Journal of Social Issues, 60: 701–718

Status, Sex, and Smiling The Effect of Role on Smiling in Men and Women

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Decoding Visual Dominance: Attributions of Power Based on Relative Percentages of Looking While Speaking and Looking While Listening

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The relationship of social power to visual displays of dominance between men and women

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Organizational Preferences and Their Consequences

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License of Obligation to Smile: The Effect of Power and Sex on Amount and Type of Smiling

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Powerful postures versus powerful roles: Which is the proxiate correlate of thought and behavior?

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Power, approach, and inhibition

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The contingent smile: A meta-analysis of sex differences in smiling

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Decoding of Inconsistent Communications

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Inference of Attitudes from Nonverbal Communication in Two Channels

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Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes and Backlash Toward Agentic Women

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An Unconscious Desire for Hierarchy? The Motivated Perception of Dominance Complementarity in Task Partners

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