Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2015

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Introduction-Chapter 1

Chapters 2-3

Chapters 4-5

Chapters 6-7

Chapters 8-9

Chapters 10-11

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 10-11Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 10 Summary: “Self-Nudging: How Tiny Tweaks Lead to Big Changes”

Cuddy describes a situation that she often found herself in. She would receive a critique in an email and then feel an urge to quickly respond. This demonstrated powerlessness and often resulted in poor outcomes because the rushed response did not cover everything that was needed. At the urging of a friend, she started to slow down and respond after she had time to consider. She explains: “First, slowing down is a power move. Just as speaking slowly, taking pauses, and occupying space are related to power, so, too, is taking your time to figure out how to respond and slowing down your decision-making process in high pressure moments” (249). Rushing to respond takes away her power and also usually backfired. The second thing Cuddy realized is that not doing anything is a way of doing something because it reminded her that she has power to slow the “runaway train” (250).

“Nudges” became a topic of interest for economists and psychologists in 2005. The term suggests that “the best way to change people’s behavior for the better might not be to request or demand big changes in attitudes and preferences but to subtly, almost imperceptibly, nudge people in a healthy direction” (252). For instance, in the United Kingdom, the government employed a nudge in the form of a reminder to the people that many British citizens pay their taxes on time. This action demonstrably increased the number of on-time payments, just from this tiny nudge.

Nudges:

“Are small and require minimal psychological and physical commitment” (255)
“Operate via psychological shortcuts” (255)
“Work because our attitudes follow from our behaviors” (256)

Cuddy applies this concept of nudges to “self-nudges,” which are “minimal modifications to one’s own body language and/or mindset that are intended to produce small psychological and behavioral improvements in the moment” (256). She notes that over time, these small actions lead to big changes. Cuddy refers to the research of psychologist Carol Dweck into mindset, which focuses on the two main types of mindset: fixed or growth. People with a growth mindset believe they can change and improve over time. Cuddy goes on to explain that “Nudges are, in part, about choice architecture—building an environment in which people make good decisions. Self-nudging allows you to be the architect and the building” (258).

When we use self-nudges, over time that behavior becomes self-reinforcing. We remember that we successfully made a small change last time, so that it becomes easier to make the same change the next time, or to even improve on it. We can recall the experience of the positive effect of the nudge to perform well again.

It can be difficult when experiencing anxiety to just “calm down.” Cuddy recommends that we consider channeling our anxiety to another similar, heightened emotion: excitement. These two states exhibit many of the same physical characteristics. Therefore, it is possible to change the state that we’re in to one of excitement and perform better as a result. We also do better when we can identify with our future selves in the moment. Seeing a photo of ourselves falsely aged can help us make better financial choices that support our future selves.

Chapter 11 Summary: “Fake It Till You Become It”

In this chapter, Cuddy shares stories of individuals who have tried power posing, which had positive impacts on their lives.

An actor was called to audition for a role he was not sure he would qualify for, but before he went in, he found the men’s restroom and struck a power pose. He earned the part because he was able to be present in the moment and channel his confidence from the power posing.
A businessperson realized their body language was communicating powerlessness and that that was having an impact on their business meetings. By taking up more space and being expansive during the next video call, they were able to do a much better job selling themselves as a business.
Multiple stories of students and teachers demonstrate that using power posing before class discussions, presentations, and tests helped students to perform in a way that better reflected their abilities.
Athletes use power posing before important games or meets and improve their times and scores as a result. Cuddy writes: “Power posing not only gave them a physiological boost, but provided a tangible connection to the rest of the team—something outside of themselves” (281).
Combat veteran Roberto suffers from PTS issues and has used power posing to become more aware of his body language, which has helped him to be more confident and comfortable in his body.
CJ, an outreach coordinator for a domestic violence agency that works in women’s prisons, shared the idea of power posing with their students. They were able to identify good times to use power posing, such as their judicial hearings before the parole board, taking tests like the GED, and interviews.

Cuddy explains that the lesson of her book is about “incrementally nudging yourself to become the best version of yourself. Being present during challenging moments […] It’s about fooling yourself, just a little, until you feel more powerful, more present” (294-95).

Chapters 10-11 Analysis

Nudges provide another example of how Everyone Can Achieve Personal Empowerment. Individuals can shape and control their behavior by taking micro-actions that move their behavior in the preferred direction. As Cuddy writes: “When we use nonverbal interventions, such as deep breathing, smiling, sitting up straight, and power posing, we aren’t distracted by bewildering in-the-moment self-evaluations of how well we are or are not doing” (259-60). We can use our bodies to calm our minds, an easy path to increasing personal power. When we are able to change something as simple as a breathing pattern to still the mind, we can feel more confident.

In Chapter 10, Cuddy builds on the concept of Nudges, developed by other psychologists, and adds her own concept, which she coins “Self-Nudges.” Nudges are generally used to influence groups of people with small, barely noticeable tweaks to the environment, such as adding information about your use of energy compared to your neighbor’s and using competition to encourage you to lower your electricity usage. In contrast, you create self-nudges for your own benefit. Cuddy argues that by making tiny tweaks to your posture and developing your connection to your authentic self and other elements of presence, you can move toward preferred behaviors that will elicit more presence from everyday experiences.

Throughout the book, Cuddy has included many first-person accounts of how power posing has helped individuals. In this final chapter, she presents a more in-depth narrative about the people who have been impacted. The sheer number of stories selected for the book indicate that Cuddy received a large amount of correspondence and was able to choose anecdotes to illustrate her points throughout her book. She pulls examples from people in all different walks of life. In this way, she suggests universality to the applicability of her work.