You've probably seen it. The TED talk with over 70 million views where a Harvard researcher explains that standing in a "power pose" for two minutes before a big presentation will boost your testosterone, lower your stress hormones, and transform you into a confident speaker. Stand like Wonder Woman. Fake it till you make it. Change your body, change your mind.
The promise was irresistible. A simple body hack that could give anyone instant confidence before a job interview, a pitch, or a keynote speech. Millions of people tried it. Books were written about it. It became one of the most cited pieces of popular psychology advice of the decade.
There was just one problem. When researchers tried to replicate the original study with proper scientific rigor, it fell apart completely.
The Research That Changed Everything In 2019, Hannah Metzler and Julie Grèzes at the French National Centre for Scientific Research published one of the most thorough tests of the hormonal claims.
Their study recruited 82 male participants and had them repeatedly adopt either expansive (high-power) or constrictive (low-power) postures for 2-minute intervals. They measured three hormones: testosterone (associated with dominance), cortisol (associated with stress), and progesterone (associated with affiliative behavior). Saliva samples were collected at multiple time points to track changes.
The results were unambiguous. All three hormones declined naturally over the experimental session, but there was no difference between groups. Testosterone showed no response to power posing. Cortisol showed no response. Progesterone showed no response. The body simply did not react to the postures the way the original study claimed.
This was not an isolated failure. Four other research teams had already failed to replicate the original findings: Ranehill et al. (2015), Ronay et al. (2017), Smith and Apicella (2017), and Davis et al. (2017). The Metzler and Grèzes study added yet another nail in the coffin.
Perhaps the most striking development came later. Amy Cuddy's co-author on the original study, Dana Carney, posted a public statement on her faculty webpage: "I do not believe that 'power pose' effects are real." She detailed the methodological problems with the original research and recommended against citing it as evidence for anything.
Why The Promise Was So Appealing
The power posing claim resonated because it offered something everyone wants: a quick fix for anxiety. The idea that you could hack your body chemistry with a simple pose was deeply appealing. It felt scientific, actionable, and democratic. Anyone could do it in a bathroom stall before a big moment.
But confidence doesn't work that way. Your body's stress response before high-stakes situations is deeply rooted in how you evaluate the situation, your past experiences, and your genuine skill level. A two-minute pose can't override these fundamental factors. Standing like a superhero might make you feel momentarily powerful, but that feeling evaporates the moment you face actual evaluation.
What Actually Builds Speaking Confidence
If power poses don't work, what does? The research literature points to three evidence-based approaches.
1. Reframe Arousal as Excitement
Harvard research (Brooks, 2014) found that saying "I am excited" before speaking leads to better performance than trying to calm down. Your racing heart before a presentation isn't a sign of weakness. It's your body preparing for performance. The physiological state is identical to excitement. The difference is in how you label it.
2. Know Your Nervousness Is Invisible
Multiple studies show speakers dramatically overestimate how much their anxiety shows. Research by Savitsky and Gilovich (2003) found that simply telling speakers their nervousness isn't as visible as they think actually improved their performance. You feel transparent. You're not. Your audience rates you much higher than you rate yourself.
3. Build Competence Through Practice
There's no shortcut to confidence. The speakers who feel genuinely confident are the ones who have practiced enough to trust their abilities. Real preparation beats fake posturing every time. Running through your presentation five more times will do more for your confidence than standing like Wonder Woman.
The Bottom Line
The power pose story is a cautionary tale about viral advice outpacing scientific evidence. The original study was underpowered, unblinded, and ultimately unreproducible. The appealing claim spread far faster than the correction.
Real speaking confidence comes from understanding how your mind works, not from body hacks. Your anxiety feels worse than it looks. Your arousal can be reframed as excitement. And nothing replaces genuine practice. These insights might be less dramatic than a superhero pose, but they actually work.
Put This Into Practice
Building real confidence means practicing in conditions that mirror the pressure of real performance. The more you practice under pressure, the less you need to fake anything.
Try impromptu practice to develop quick-thinking confidence or interview practice to prepare for high-stakes conversations. Each session builds the real foundation of speaking confidence: knowing you can handle whatever comes your way.