The Power of Presence: Unlock Your Potential to Influence and Engage Others

If you want to be seen as trusted and credible, then your actions must be in alignment with your intentions, both stated and unstated. It’s the only way to be received with clarity.

The kind of presence that attracts other people to you, makes your team want to move mountains for you, and propels you ahead is the opposite of fake. It is pure authenticity—being more of the person you already are, without the mental subterfuge that gets in the way.

Intentionality Frame

“The face isn’t a secondary billboard for internal feelings but an equal partner in the emotional process.”4

“Let thoughts go, let feelings be.” The idea is that even performers at the top of their craft get nervous. It’s a physical reaction. Instead of fighting it and resisting, learn to observe it and acknowledge it

Accept the feeling. Dwell on it for a moment. Perhaps even name it: “There’s my crazy telltale heart again.” But don’t conclude that it will make you unsuccessful.

Executive presence begins in your head. It resides in how you think about yourself, your abilities, your environment,

I am routinely asked for the Right Way to stand, talk, gesture, or present. In fact, there is no Right Way. How you should stand, talk, gesture, or present depends on what you want to communicate. Anything else erodes authenticity—and for many people, confidence as well.

One of the overarching messages of this research is that by focusing attention on what’s right rather than what’s wrong, and learning how to be resilient against negativity, we can guard ourselves against protracted setbacks and live a happier, more fulfilling life.

For most people, it means you have to make choices about the actions you want to emphasize. The best place to start is by choosing the actions that make up your core values or, in other words, your personal presence brand.