What does it mean to have presence?

What does it take to have presence?

Can anyone cultivate it?

The inaugural episode of The PowerUP Your Presence Podcast will answer these questions and more – beginning with an anecdote about a scientist trying rise within her firm. She had been passed over for promotion to VP several times and when she confronted the CEO over it, she was told she lacked the presence required for senior leadership and was referred to HR to help with that.  HR then referred her to Diane and Sandra for coaching and development. They coached her around the key elements of connecting authentically, inspiring others, building confidence, and motivating a team into action.

Presence can be developed, and this podcast is designed to demystify what presence is, provide tips, resources, and stories to help you step into the power of your presence and elevate your leadership by bringing out the best version of yourself.

Presence starts from within and requires alignment between your mind, body and words. It requires growing strong “power skills” like emotional and social intelligence to build exceptional leadership.  Diane and Sandra use the example of Matthew Lieberman’s Ted Talk The Social Brain and how social thinking plays a bigger role in any industry than analytical thinking does.

Beyond the brain’s role in presence, there’s also the power of the body. Body language, posture and performance are a key component of what we’re talking about. Amy Cuddy explains in her book Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges as well as her Ted Talk Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are that when we take more expansive poses for at least two minutes before an important meeting, presentation, or interview,  we will appear more confident. She coined the term “Power Pose”.

This episode would like to leave you with 3 tips:

Tip 1: Be Present in the Moment

In the modern attention economy, it’s increasingly difficult to be entirely focused on only one thing. We all rewired ourselves for multi-tasking, but now it’s more important to focus and reset to the task at hand, being mindful about where we are placing our attention. We offer a few techniques including balanced breathing, water-glass meditations, and writing quick notes about things that might distract you.

Tip 2: Nail Your First Impressions

Yes, Impressions. Every interaction, big or small, creates an impact, either positive or negative. You can make sure your impressions go well by setting a clear intention before entering an interaction. Focus on one word you want to have set the tone around how you want people to experience you during the interaction. There’s a whole episode about first impressions coming soon, be sure to add us to your podcasting app of choice now.

Tip 3: Standing Out When you Speak

This is all about what you say, and how you say it. Standing out begins with congruence, let your facial expressions and posture carry the same feeling that your words do. Take a cue from tip number two and set the intent you wish to demonstrate. Furthermore, be concise. Let your audience know only what they need to know not everything that you know. When performing to your intent, don’t leave your authenticity behind, simply stretch a little to suit the situation. Brian Little’s Ted Talk, Who Are you Really? The Puzzle of Personality has some great additional advice on how to do this.

Another good way to build up these skills is to use your phone to record yourself, it’s less distracting and more flexible than just standing in front of the mirror. As you review the video, focus on improving one development opportunity so it doesn’t feel so overwhelming.

Until next time:  Be present, be warm, be curious, and take notice of how others react to you.

Love the show? Let us know!

Do you enjoy listening to the PowerUp your Presence Podcast? If the tips, stories and interviews we share in each episode have helped you be more intentional about how you show up and lead more effectively, head over to iTunes or Spotify, subscribe to the show and leave a review to let us know!

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