Amy Cuddy

A bold and captivating voice and award-winning researcher and teacher in the field of social psychology, Dr. Amy Cuddy demystifies the science behind power, presence, body language, and social bravery – and their influence on human interactions and outcomes. The question that drives her work: “How can we take control of our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ways that boost our confidence, presence, performance, courage, and overall well-being?”

Cuddy is widely recognized for her enduringly popular TED Talk, “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are” — the second-most-watched TED Talk of all time with over 70 million views, named by The Guardian as ‘One of 20 Online Talks that Could Change Your Life,’ and for her best-selling book Presence, which has sold more than half a million copies and been published in 35 languages. As described in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, “Cuddy brings an abundance of humility and charm to the page. Her presence itself – her openhearted desire to help the insecure and the uneasy in this age of anxiety – shines through. Presence feels at once concrete and inspiring, simple but ambitious – above all, truly powerful.”

No matter the forum or topic, Amy conveys a rare combination of wisdom and deep expertise — along with an honest, warm-hearted accessibility and openness. Whether she’s talking to a group of 100 or 20,000, she creates an unparalleled intimacy with her audiences. Engaging deeply with listeners and bestowing advice that is both practical and profound, she enthralls and inspires audiences with evidence-based and immediately-actionable tips for achieving greater success – demonstrating how harnessing our personal power can liberate us from fear and connect us with others, making us more present, compelling, and courageous.

She has addressed hundreds of thousands of people in live audiences all over the world, in addition to thousands of students in classrooms at Harvard University, where she taught for ten years, winning an Excellence in Teaching Award, and Northwestern University.

Personal Power & Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges

Many of our biggest challenges call for us to be calmly confident, focused, and open to hearing others. Too often, we approach these high-pressure interactions with fear, execute with anxiety and distraction, and leave with regret. Based on her best-selling book Presence, Amy draws from psychology and neuroscience research, personal narratives, and her own challenges, focusing on:

• What holds us back from being present and effective in these challenging situations?
• How does feeling powerless (vs. powerful) affect our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, in turn undermining our ability to be smart, creative, attentive, and effective when we most need to be?
• How do we retrain our nervous systems to liberate us — rather than inhibit us — in these moments?
• How does our own presence help others to be present — and facilitate the building of trust in stressful interactions?
• What does powerful vs. powerless body language look like?
• Can we adapt our own body language — breathing, speech patterns, simple and complex posture, and movement — to directly affect how powerful we feel (and how powerful we appear to others)?

Audiences will be moved and inspired, leaving Amy’s keynote with a fresh, life-changing perspective on themselves and their interactions, and a concrete and immediately-actionable set of simple techniques to harness their own personal power and presence, freeing them to perform and interact at their very best — and empower others to do the same.

The Science and Social Impact of Bravery — and How We Can Use it to End Bullying

Social media is a rocket fuel for our worst impulses, says Amy Cuddy, exacerbating incivility and bullying among adults both online and offline. But the same psychological mechanisms that elicit bullying – tribalism, the influence of norms, and desire for status – can just as easily be used to decrease bullying and increase bravery. The same human tendencies that are activated for bad, argues Cuddy, can be activated for good.

“Now, more than any other time, we have the science – and the stories – to build a brand-new program to fight against this menace,” Cuddy says.

In this talk, based on her forthcoming book, Bullies, Bystanders, and Bravehearts (HarperCollins, 2026) she covers the staggering psychological, physical, and socio-economic costs of bullying to individuals, organizations, and societies – and the unprecedented and surprising opportunities we have to engage in and lead through social bravery. She compellingly demonstrates that when we understand the psychology of these dynamics, virtually all of us will have the power to be bravehearts, rather than passive bystanders.

A renowned social psychologist, Cuddy shares an acute combination of scientific expertise and first-hand experience, drawing both from her personal journey and the stories of others to communicate important human truths.

Body > Mind: How the Way We Move, Breathe, and Carry Ourselves Changes Everything

In high-performance environments—whether in sales, R&D, operations, or client strategy—we tend to rely on mental discipline to stay focused, persuasive, and adaptable. But the science is clear: how we use our body directly shapes how we think, feel, and interact. Amy Cuddy draws on two decades of research across psychology, neuroscience, and physiology to show that posture, breath, movement, and vocal tone regulate neural activity in the brain regions responsible for attention, emotion, memory, and decision-making. These aren’t hacks or habits—they’re pathways into clarity, calm, and presence. This talk offers a powerful, science-based framework for using the body as a tool for better thinking, communication, and resilience—across roles and industries.

In this talk, Amy explores:

• How upright, open posture activates brain networks linked to confidence, creativity, and cognitive flexibility
• Why slow, steady breathing can calm the amygdala and improve focus under pressure
• How small changes in gait, gesture, and vocal tone influence not just how others perceive us—but how we perceive ourselves
• The neuroscience behind why movement—especially rhythmic or synchronized movement—improves memory, social connection, and problem-solving
• Practical, research-backed strategies for using the body to manage anxiety, prepare for high-stakes interactions, and recover cognitive clarity in moments of overload

The Most Powerful Leaders Don’t Dominate — Why Trust, Not Bravado, Drives Results

Too often, bravado is mistaken for leadership. The loudest voice in the room, the refusal to admit doubt, the performance of certainty—especially in uncertain times—can look like strength. But domineering leadership may suppress dissent, discourage innovation, and create a culture of silence that fails under pressure.

In this data-driven and deeply practical talk, Dr. Amy Cuddy shows why dominance doesn’t deliver—and how trust-based leadership outperforms it on every meaningful metric. Drawing on decades of psychological research and timely case studies from high-performing organizations, she reveals the measurable costs of fear-based leadership—and the tangible returns of trust.

Your audience will learn:

• Why dominance leads to surface-level compliance, not sustained engagement
• How fear-based leadership erodes innovation, execution, and ethical behavior
• What the data say about trust: teams led by high-trust managers show higher performance, lower attrition, faster decision cycles, and greater resilience
• Concrete behaviors that build trust: listening deeply, rewarding credibility over confidence, creating psychological safety, and sharing power wisely

This talk is ideal for executive teams, people leaders, and organizations under pressure to perform without sacrificing culture.

Takeaway: Domineering leadership creates fragile organizations. Trust-based leadership builds teams that adapt, innovate, and endure. In today’s workplace, trust isn’t a soft skill—it’s a strategic imperative.