Attributes like full control
of the space, relaxed body language, a posture that is open, and a strong,
authentic presence. To begin feeling that power yourself imagine a lion in the
jungle. She establishes her space and territory; she's queen of the
jungle. She's relaxed; she moves gracefully. If she met a mouse on her
path, it's the mouse that would be tense. Her posture is open; she
stretches out her limbs. She'd never have to battle for an armrest on an
airplane. She's -authentic; she carries her confidence and stability with
her. She's herself.
Take
Up Space
Use the arms on the chair, stand with your feet a
bit apart (men can do this more easily than women.) A female leg stance in North America is with
the feet typically 4 to 6 inches apart and a male power stance starts with the
feet more than 8 inches apart which could make a woman look like a gun slinging
cowboy.
Choose
where you sit and stand
For example the new power seat (seating in detail in
the book) is the middle of the conference room table.
Go
First
Initiate interactions. Be the first to make eye
contact, offer your hand to shake, have an idea or solution, go into a room,
and make the call. You can only afford
to wait and go last when you are in the C-suite and ready to retire.
The
handshake
Always
put your hand out to shake hands. A classic good handshake is one with full
palm to palm contact.
Eyes
Occasionally
initiate prolonged, eye
contact, three seconds or longer as you initiate interactions. Says, acts like communicates that you are
powerful. The dominant person may alternatively prevent eye contact, saying “You
are beneath me and I do not want even to look at you.” Women have to be careful
of doing this when they don’t know the gentleman as it may be misconstrued as a
sexual come on. (Yes, this is still true today.)
Speaking
The
person who speaks first often gets to control the conversation, either by
talking for longer or by managing the questions. You don’t have to be loud to
be confident but you may have to be a bit louder to get “the turn” to speak.
Patti Wood, MA, Certified Speaking Professional - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at
www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at
www.snapfirstimpressions.com. Also check out Patti's YouTube channel at
http://youtube.com/user/bodylanguageexpert.
