About two years ago, University of Oregon alumnus Will Cuddy arrived to his callback audition for a role in the film Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon.
Nervous, he tried something unusual: He posed like Superman in the nearby restroom and counted down from 120 before heading into the audition.
“I walked in feeling completely at ease,” Cuddy said. “I finished up and walked out knowing I did my best. I never feel like that walking out of an audition.”
Later, he found out that he got the part.
He credits that success to Amy Cuddy (unrelated to Will), a social psychologist and Harvard business professor featured in one of the most viewed TED Talk videos, who created the power stance theory that Will tested before his interview.
Eager to share his story, Will emailed Amy, and the two soon became friends. He even brought her and her husband to the Boston premiere of the film a year later.
Amy’s theory is that holding power stances, such as the Superman pose, for two minutes can increase confidence and decrease stress levels, leading to improved performance at tasks like job interviews.
This TED Talk is one of many offering expert knowledge and advice that have provided people with the kick-start needed to ignite their careers.
Here are a few others to prepare you for your next big interview.
1. Kelly McGonigal: “How to Make Stress your Friend”
Psychologist Kelly McGonigal talks about stress, but tells a side of the story most don’t know. McGonigal says that it has equal power to do good as it has to do bad. Simply knowing and remembering this in the moment can significantly affect the body’s reaction to stress.
The takeaway: If you’re stressed about your next interview, remember that it’s ultimately up to you how your performance is affected by it. If you choose to believe that the stress is destructive, it will be. If you choose to believe that stress is your body’s way of preparing you for a challenge, it will.
2. Alain de Botton: “A kinder, gentler philosophy of success”
In this video, Alain de Botton, a philosopher, criticizes the way our culture views failure and success. In a meritocratic society, he says, one usually believes that success is earned and deserved. Likewise, that also means we believe that failure is equally as earned as deserved. But often times, that’s not the case.
In another TED Talk more focused on failure, economist Larry Smith makes several arguments about why we fail to get our dream jobs.
The takeaway: It’s likely that the chances of you getting the job may depend on your skill just as much as luck. So don’t take rejection too personally. While it’s important to learn as much as we can from these situations, it’s also important to protect your self-esteem.
3. Ashwini Mrinal Bhagat: “What I learned from 32 grueling interviews”
Ashwini Mrinal Bhagat, now a successful TED Global Human Resources team member for State Street India, endured 32 interviews before finally landing a job.
The takeaway: Don’t give up. Like Bhagat, you may have to do several of these. As we learned in the last one, rejection may not always be your fault. But if one thing’s sure, you’re not going to get your dream job if you stop trying.
Above all, TED Talks show us the power of anecdotes. Nearly everyone starts with a story that exemplifies the point they’re about to make.
The ultimate takeaway here is that stories are more powerful, interesting and believable than simple explanations. So instead of telling your potential future employer how much of a “team player” you are, tell them a story about a time when you helped lead your team to success.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to let your personality show. Chances are you’re not the first qualified candidate they’ve interviewed, so give them a reason to remember you above the rest.