“It has to come from your core, really tight. Shoulders down. Neck long. Think MURDER, and walk.” — video on “how to walk like a Queen” by Charlize Theron

Yup, you need a walk. Practice it. Use it. Own it.

Power Pose 101: How to Pretend You’re the Sh*t (and We’re All Just Pretending)

  1. Beginner Level: For a couple minutes, stand tall and raise your arms to reach for the ceiling or for the walls. It makes you more confident. Your body language shapes who you are. When you stand tall and take up more space (a.k.a the Alpha Gorilla Pose), the testosterone level in your blood raises and makes you feel more powerful. Psychos Psychologists actually drew blood to prove this theory. (TED talk by Amy Cuddy)
  2. Intermediate Level: Keep good posture, always. Shoulders down. Neck long. Head and spine align. It takes a strong core and a strong back to keep good posture. Good posture makes you look in control. A strong body makes you feel in control. (Guide to good posture, the Ballet version)
  3. Advanced Level: Are you ready for the most effective way to practice “pretending you’re the sh*t”? I call this exercise “Parting the Red Sea” and it’s not for the faint of heart. (Inspiration) When you’re in public, do the murder walk in a straight line. Here is the key: do not give way for anyone. Just look and walk straight ahead. You’d rather bump into people (if you do, just look at them warmly and smile a little) than give way. Try it. You will see people actually move out of your way automatically. When you become more and more comfortable parting the red sea, you will feel bad-ass and do murder walk at will.

It’s all about being and acting like the Alpha in the jungle. Just practice. You will get better. What’s the point of believing otherwise?

More science on power pose and charisma:

Charisma = Power + Warmth. It’s difficult to be seen as powerful and warm at the same time. Usually, the more powerful you look, the less warm you’re perceived to be. For men, it’s fine. For women, it’s very damaging to be seen as cold (think Hillary Clinton). So, ladies, when you dial up the power, make sure to compensation that by dialing up the warmth way more. (Here is the video about this.) Here is the article on how to dial up warmth.