How posture affects learning

If you want learners to feel more confident and take more risks when they’re role playing or presenting, have them work on their posture.

Harvard researchers found that “power postures” (open-limbed, expansive postures) produce chemicals in your body that make you feel more powerful.

Holding a power posture for one minute was enough to create these effects. Conversely, “shrinking” into a space or closing your limbs made people feel less confident and less powerful.

Source: Power Posing: “Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance,” Psychological Science, Sep 21, 2010.