Chapter 7 then discusses the opposite, which is how we pose our body can also affect the perception of our own power. Likewise, when we feel powerless, we start to “shrink” in on ourselves and adopt a closed, protective posture. In Chapter 6, Cuddy shares her observation that our perception of our own “power” affects our body language when we feel powerful, our body “expands” and adopts broader and more open postures. The next two chapters, Chapters 6 and 7, discuss the concept of body language (also called nonverbal communication) and its role in our day-to-day communication. These chapters also touched on some familiar problems related to presence: impostor syndrome, personal vs social power, and the paradox of powerlessness. His efforts resulted in a 79% drop in youth violence. One such example is the story of how reverend Jeffrey Brown from Boston, USA applied what can be considered as some principles of presence, such as being genuine and simply being there both physically and mentally, to connect with at-risk Boston youth. Quite a number of real-life examples and scholarly works were cited to help demonstrate the benefit of presence. Moving on, chapters 3 to 5 discuss the justification of presence, particularly why having good (or at least decent) mastery of presence can improve one’s life significantly. “Presence manifests as confidence without arrogance” It comes and goes, it is a moment-to-moment phenomenon.” (p. it is not a permanent, transcendent mode of being. Presence, in this book, is described as “ the state of being attuned to and able to comfortably express our true thoughts, feelings, values, and potential. The first two chapters thereafter discuss the definition of presence. But can the reverse be true?” Spoiler alert: yes, it can.Ĭuddy started off the book with her personal experience of overcoming a difficult challenge that led her to study the science of presence and power. The general premise of the book is (predictably) similar to her talk: “It is widely accepted that the state of our mind can affect our body language.

Written by social psychologist Amy Cuddy, Presence is considered by many to be a self-help book. Chances are you’ve heard of this author or even seen her famous TEDTalk.

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