Convey power

Signal that you have the ability to affect the world — competence, status, or capability.

Why it works

Power is the perception that you can make things happen, and combined with warmth it’s what makes presence compelling rather than merely pleasant. People read power from posture, economy of movement, and unhurried speech. The trap is that power without warmth reads as cold or threatening — the two are meant to be paired, not traded.

How to do it

1. Reduce nervous, excess movement; stillness and unhurried pacing read as power.
2. Speak with downward, settled intonation and let pauses stand rather than rushing to fill them.
3. Pair every power signal with warmth, so confidence reads as reassuring rather than intimidating.

Evidence

Power/status as a core dimension of social perception is well established, and nonverbal dominance cues are studied; Cabane’s specific behavioral prescriptions are practitioner advice. Fiske, Cuddy, and Glick establish power/competence as one of the two universal axes of social judgment, while Ranehill et al.’s large preregistered replication found no hormonal or risk-tolerance effect of power posing — reinforcing that the reliable payoff is how others read you, not a physiological change in you. (mechanistic)

Be skeptical of strong "posture changes your hormones" claims — those power-posing findings largely failed to replicate. The reliable effect is on how others perceive you, and on felt confidence.

Sources

• Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., & Glick, P. (2007). Universal dimensions of social cognition: warmth and competence. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(2), 77-83.
• Ranehill, E., Dreber, A., Johannesson, M., Leiberg, S., Sul, S., & Weber, R. A. (2015). Assessing the Robustness of Power Posing: No Effect on Hormones and Risk Tolerance in a Large Sample of Men and Women. Psychological Science, 26(5), 653-656.
• Carney, D. R., Cuddy, A. J. C., & Yap, A. J. (2010). Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1363-1368.

Common mistake

Chasing power signals alone (dominant posture, clipped speech) without warmth, which reads as arrogance and pushes people away rather than drawing them in.