Paradigm Shifting Books
“What are the must-read books for personal and professional development?” If you’ve ever wondered this, you’ve come to the right place. Join us as we dive into 40 essential books that everyone should read. Hear directly from the authors as they share the key paradigms and principles necessary to unlock your full potential. Hosted by brothers Stephen H. Covey and Britain Covey, this podcast is your gateway to transformative insights and growth.
Paradigm Shifting Books
Book Preview - Presence by Amy Cuddy
Previewing ‘Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges’ by Amy Cuddy
In this preview episode of Paradigm Shifting Books, Stephen and Britain Covey set the stage for their upcoming interview with Amy Cuddy, the renowned social psychologist behind Presence. The brothers share their excitement about discussing a book that has transformed the way we think about confidence and personal power.
They explore the concept of “presence,” likening it to an inner strength that allows you to show up as your best self in critical moments—whether it’s a job interview, a high-stakes presentation, or a pivotal sports moment (like returning punts in the Super Bowl). Drawing from Cuddy’s groundbreaking research, they unpack how presence isn’t an innate quality but a skill that can be developed through intentional shifts in body language and mindset.
The episode touches on key themes from the book, including the science of power posing, the transformative idea of “fake it until you become it,” and the role of presence in overcoming imposter syndrome. Stephen and Britain also share the questions they’re eager to ask Amy in the full interview, including insights into her research process and her thoughts on applying presence in everyday life.
Join the conversation as the hosts dive into why Presence is a must-read for anyone looking to bring their boldest self to life’s biggest challenges.
00:00 Introduction to Presence
03:06 Practical Applications of Presence
06:27 Amy Cuddy's Background
08:32 Questions to explore
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All right, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Paradigm Shifting Books. This is an intro episode. Um, we've just finished with our father's book, Trust and Inspire, Stephen M. R. Covey, which was a very fun episode. and we are very excited for this next book. We are going to be. Interviewing Amy Cuddy about her book, Presence, bringing your boldest self to your biggest challenges. we are extremely excited about this. I am especially. She is a native Pennsylvanian and an Eagles fan. So, I, I don't know. I'm, I'm just stoked. I'm almost finished with the book and, I'll tell you, I wish I would have read this years ago. Um, so I've, I've got so many questions I want to ask her and I'm so excited. but the idea of presence. Okay. So, so just think to yourself right now, as you're listening to this in your mind, what is presence? There's a new term going around. That's very popular right now on like Tik TOK and things. It's aura, right? I mean, it's not a new term. It's been around for ages, but everyone said, Oh yeah, he's got great aura about him. it's kind of similar. So think of someone who has great presence, maybe it's a. A performer, you know, a singer or an athlete, um, or a businessman, businesswoman. presence, Amy Cuddy talks about, you know it when you see it, but it's hard to put into words what it is, right. When someone has great presence. I think about like. used to go watch that, that, that group ill Devo of opera singers. And one of, and a couple of them just had such great presence when they would walk out there. Um, anyways, what I love about this books and the paradigm shift that we are focusing on with this is that challenges the notion that presence is an innate trait that some people are just born with presence and naturally have it. and this book shows how. Instead, it's something that you can cultivate, uh, and through intentional changes in your mindset and specifically in your body language, how you can literally cultivate presence and confidence. One of the concepts she talks about that I'm excited to ask her about is fake it until you make it. She changes the words to be fake it until you become it, which I really like. She goes into depth on that, so we'll, we'll for sure ask about that. then she also goes into the scientific uh, of all of this and that she's had a rigorous research in this area. Um, and it's all backed up by science. There's literal physiological changes that take place in your brain and in your body as you practice presence. And as you learn presence and these little techniques, uh, that change you and change the makeup of your brain and how you approach things. And it gives you confidence. It gives you this real. Sense of self and being present in the moment and dominating whatever you're doing. So I'm anyways, I'm just really excited. It probably sounds like I'm rambling, but that's how excited I am
stephen-c_1_11-16-2024_114338:No, I, no, I think it makes total sense, Brit. And I'm excited too, because I think this idea of presence, this applies to so many different areas of life. So, you know, some examples like bringing, being present and bringing your presence, bringing that aura, like you talk about to a job interview. To a presentation, public speaking, negotiations, like, uh, social events or networking. Let's say, like, you're auditioning for something, an audition. Uh, performance reviews in a business setting. Challenging conversations. Like, she highlights a lot of these areas where people typically will struggle and basically how bringing this, this idea of presence to those situations and having actual practical tools and mindsets, like it's not just, The thing I love about this book is it's like things you can apply right now, today. And, and, and when we talk about, we talk with her, I'm excited to say like, what can we do right now? Let's, let's do it together. I want to do it. I let's say another, another example of another endeavor and Brit, this relates to you, but let's, let's take sports for example. So Brit, you're in a, you're in a unique position because you've been in a situation and multiple situations where you've had, I mean, you've been in the top, The Superbowl, which is literally considered the top one or two places in the world, as far as, uh, a spectator event, you know, hundreds, like hundred plus million people watching. What's kind of your view around this concept of presence in a situation like that? Like,
squadcaster-98g0_1_11-16-2024_134338:Well, I love that. And she talks about this in her book and I'm excited to ask her about it too. She's not taking an all encompassing view of presence in your life. Of just, okay, how do we get you to every second of every day? Have this presence and confidence, you know, that's more of a kind of a more
stephen-c_1_11-16-2024_114338:like mindfulness, right? Like Mindfulness. Yeah. Yep.
squadcaster-98g0_1_11-16-2024_134338:she takes, she goes way that, you know, that can feel more grandiose and almost idealistic to be ever present and, you know, she's talking specifically about. That job interview that you're going to have, right? That part return in the super bowl, those five minutes when you really need to be present. and I think that that honestly takes a little bit of the pressure off while reading this book that like, Oh, I can actually do this. I don't, this isn't me needing to feel super confident in myself every second of every day. This is okay. I've got a big presentation coming up and I hate talking in front of people. What are some things I can actually do for those five minutes that give me that confidence that I deserve to have, because I, I know the content inside and out, or, know, I feel like I deserve to be confident as a part returner because I've practiced so much, but then when I get in the game, I'm super nervous and there's people booing me and yell, you know, how do I, in that moment, what do I do? What are some actual tools? That can give me that presence. And I just, I think it takes some of the pressure off. This isn't all encompassing in your life. This is all right. let's talk about this job interview. How can we, what can we do to physiologically change your brain so that you have presence in that moment?
stephen-c_1_11-16-2024_114338:So let me share a little bit about Amy. Amy Cuddy is a trailblazing social psychologist whose work has fundamentally changed how we think about confidence and presence. You might know her from her Ted talk, your body language shapes who you are, which has been viewed. I think it's over 60 million times. It's one of the most watched. Ted talks ever. So as a good introduction, that might be if, if, you know, before the book, if you don't have time to read the book, just go watch that Ted talk, you'll be blown away. Uh, her research dives deep into the connection between our nonverbal behavior, our mindset, and how we show up in the world. She's taken this fascinating science and made it. Incredibly accessible. As you're saying, Brit helping people everywhere, learn how to harness their body language and mental state to feel more empowered in life's most challenging moments. Um, beyond her research, Amy's also, she was a former professor at Harvard business school. And again, her, the book presence takes everything she's studied about confidence and power and distills it into actionable strategies. We can all use to show up. As our best selves. Um, and I think as well, just, I don't know Amy personally, I just know her basically following social media and seeing her speak. She, uh, just seems like an incredible person and in her book and in her talk, she shares a little bit about her story and, This kind of horrible accident that happened to her and Brit and I were talking before about how we feel like that accident kind of shaped her and helped her become this incredible, um, thought leader. And you just look at her like social media presence and the way she talks about things and she, she really does have a presence talking about presence and, um, she just seems like such kind of like a. A light in the world, right? That's one of the things our grandpa used to say is, um, uh, what did he say? Be a, be a model, a critic, be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And it feels like Amy is a person that totally embodies that. So I'm so excited to talk about her. Brett, you've, you've said a few things you want to ask her about any, anything else that comes top to mind as far as what you want to talk about with her.
squadcaster-98g0_1_11-16-2024_134338:Yeah, I, I think, um, I just am curious her research. How did she do her research? Um, she, she mentioned so many studies in her book. Uh, and so I'm sure she's glazed over thousands of studies and, and talked to hundreds of professors and experts on this, and I'm just curious, you know, the process of that picking and choosing what research to do, to show the actual scientific data behind it. Um, There's, there's a part where she talks about being hyper aware of what other people are thinking of you and how that can lead to a lack of presence. And I think we all can experience that, you know, when you're talking then you see the facial expressions, the person that's listening to you they look confused and then you start thinking about what you're talking and then you don't remember that you're, you know, it's just a terrible chain reaction. So I'm excited to talk about getting over that. And lastly, just the idea of power posing. You know, it's something that she's talked about. I think it's in her Ted talk as well. Um, if I remember correctly, but power posing and standing like, quote unquote, wonder woman in front of the mirror is what she says. And, how that can help lead to a level of confidence. And this is something that I experienced when I'm back as a part returner that I have to do. And, you know, I've never called it power posing, but it's something similar that I feel like I do. So I'm excited to share that with her and ask her some questions about it.
stephen-c_1_11-16-2024_114338:one of the things that stood out to me as well that resonated with me is she, she was, she's talking about when you have these kind of big moments that you need to bring presence to, you know, I think practically I'm like, so like in the meeting, are you like standing up and doing some weird, weird thing? And she says, no, like, that's, that's not what I'm saying. This is more like, yeah. What you're doing in preparation for the meeting. And the example she used was like people before a job interview. And if you like go in the room and people are waiting, so many people are like hunched over their phones looking and like talking about a pose, like they're, they're, they're small, they're like not extended. Like, and I, I just could relate to that. Cause I said, how many times before I'm doing something big and important like that, like, Am I sitting there just like looking on my phone hunched over and that there are real Physiological changes that happen if instead, you know some of the poses that she talks about so that's Yeah.
squadcaster-98g0_1_11-16-2024_134338:over looking at my phone.
stephen-c_1_11-16-2024_114338:Yeah. So we can, that's the thing is we can apply it to the other thing I want to ask her about is this idea around imposter syndrome, which I think everyone can relate to. She has great stories around that and how she herself has felt that. And she kind of had this aha moment when she realized she was past that phase and she was able to help one of her students grapple with this idea of imposter syndrome. And then another bigger question I want to ask her about is, you know, why do you think in society today, society in general struggles so much with confidence and self doubt and, you know, is there things we can do like at a collective level to address these challenges? Just interested to get her perspective on that. So we're so excited to have Amy on, if you can't tell. And, uh, we'll, we'll release that episode here very, very shortly. So again, appreciate everyone, uh, subscribing and following. The podcast, if you like it, as always a great rating and review is helpful for us, but we appreciate you listening and we'll talk to y'all soon.