Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

Have you ever finished a nerve-racking challenge—like a job interview, performance, or difficult conversation—and wished you could do it over? In these moments, we often feel phony and powerless instead of genuine and commanding. We tend to approach life's biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret. Amy Cuddy explains how accessing personal power creates "presence"—a state where you stop worrying about the impression you're making on others and instead focus on the impression you've been making on yourself. Presence doesn't require a grand spiritual quest or complete inner transformation. Instead, it involves small, moment-by-moment adjustments to body language, behavior, and mind-set in daily life. Cuddy presents the science behind body-mind effects, including research underlying her widely-viewed TED talk on power poses. She teaches simple techniques to manage fear during high-pressure moments, perform at your best, and help others do the same. The book includes stories of individuals who learned to flourish during moments that once terrified them, offering readers practical ways to approach their biggest challenges with confidence rather than dread.