The power of “acting as if” for women: magic words and microphones

ILookLikeAPolitician Ambassador Jessica Gottsleben gives her winning speech at the 10th Annual Young Women to Watch Awards, on March 15th, 2016

In my recent podcast interview with Susannah Wellford, founder and director of Running Start, I learned some magic words. And weirdly, just by saying these words out loud or even silently in my head, I get an instant confidence boost.

But first, a word about the very neat work of Running Start. At Running Start, Susannah and her team inspire and prepare girls and young women to get involved in political life. And a big part of that work is helping women imagine themselves in a powerful political role, especially when they don’t see a lot of role models in political institutions. And of course, this lack of visibility is worse for women and girls of color, or who come from poor families, or who are  LGBTQ. So confidence building is a critical task in all the programs they offer. And that’s where the “magic words” come in.

“My name is ….and I am running for….”
Running Start encourages the girls and young women in their many programs to get comfortable saying these words:  “My name is … and I am running for….”. Susannah says the impact of that sentence is immediate. “You can see it right away. They stand up a little taller - they just feel more confident.” It’s the power of those words - even it they are not true (yet.) The the young women are asked to hold that statement in their heads and mentally rehearse it whenever possible.

Your turn!
So why don’t you try it - right now! “My name is … and I am running for…. “   Don’t stress about what you’re running for - pick anything (but it’s fun to use “Congress!”). And the best part is, you don’t have to actually run for anything to get the benefit! (although you can!)

My name is .... and I am running for ..."

Acting “as if”
Doing this kind of ”acting as if” (or fake it till you make it) exercise reminds me a lot of the power poses that Amy Cuddy popularized in 2012. In case you need a refresher, Cuddy set out to prove that people who adopted a power pose for two minutes (hands on hips, or arms raised and feet on desk, etc) would feel more powerful, and this feeling could give them confidence in a high-stress situation. Her research has clearly established that the poses, or what she now calls “postural feedback,” do make the “posers” feel more powerful, although they do not appear to experienced the hormonal effect she first suggested.  I have been a dedicated power poser (often in a bathroom stall!) since hearing her Ted talk so many years ago, and always loved the feeling it gave me. I felt the same kind of confidence and power from saying Susannah’s magic words.

​Take the Mic - no, really!
Running Start does something else to get women to experience their own power - it requires them to speak with a mic when doing public speaking in the program.  Jessica Kelly, Programs and Leadership director, noticed that many young women they worked with say “Oh, I don’t need to use a mic.” While some of them, according to Jessica, may have voices that can carry well, she believes the refusal more often suggests a reticence to have their voice amplified. “Women are socialized not to take the mic, not to take up space or volume,” she says, “but political candidates and leaders have to willing to have their voice command the space they are in.” She says that its critical that girls and young women learn to let their voices have volume if they want to be powerful - and express that power.
​
Karaoke?
Jessica admits that her own comfort with a mic stems from her experience at karaoke as a teenager.  Although shy, she and her high school friends would do so much karaoke that she got used to hearing her voice amplified. Now she’s able to use a mic comfortably and she highly recommends karaoke as a way to break down that mic resistance!

Of course I love the focus on “taking the mic,” since my podcast is called “Take the Mic.”  And I admit that I love speaking with a mic! (My training ground was not karaoke, but stand up comedy.)  But I want to know about you - does a mic bother you? Does it feel weird hearing your voice at a higher volume? Or did you learn to love it like Jessica and me? I would love to hear your mic story in the comment section.