Not as Good as the TED TALK

I bought this as I had heard Amy's TED TALK and the great reviews on this book.

Overall this book is interesting and about how presence, posing and breathing can have a tremendous outcome on how we feel. Not to be a spoiler, but I learnt that yoga is extremely good for post traumatic stress disorder. This something I did not know.

It was good but a little too long for me, some parts of the book were about endless bits of research. I understand that as a social scientist, you have to explain all the controls etc, but a shorter summary would have been enough for me.

If you do not feel that you have time for the book, start with the TED TALK.

15 people found this helpful

Presence

I loved this book from Amy Cuddy. It's more than a "self-development" book; don't get me wrong, she definitely instills hope and self belief in her readers to develop themselves! However, the book also details many recent research studies in an accessible way so that those with no psychological or research knowledge would be able to take away the key points, and use them to their advantage.

As well as detailing scientific research, this book also offers practical strategies that you can carry out then and there to increase confidence and self belief. The book includes many inspiring stories of those that have used these body language techniques with great benefit; from those with every day work stresses to complex life struggles.

Amy's tone of reading of this book shows her to be warm and down to earth; you can really sense that she cares about the stories she has heard. She has a clear passion for her field and this really shines through her writings

I would definitely recommend this book; whether you're happy and comfortable or struggling with something life changing, everyone can benefit from a little nudge! And this is the perfect book to do it.

11 people found this helpful

Unbearable

Puts you to sleep - no new content. Monotone delivery does not help. Watch the TED talk. Don't bother with the book.

6 people found this helpful

What you have been looking for

A book that must be used as a self- development tool. You will be the student that Amy believes in. She will guide you, your belief in You will increase. A realisation will transform itself into- hey you are the One- be present in your life- live it your not a tourist- this is your life!
Amy whole heartily instills in You-be in Presence- only then can you be the True You- you are born free- become free and enjoy the moment- the moment we call life.

6 people found this helpful

Poor content and narration, VERY disappointing

What would have made Presence better?

I made sure to listen to the whole book before giving a negative review. My wife also listened in for the most part of it (mostly forced through car journeys) and agreed it was far from a positive experience.The books seems to be aimed at people with an extremely low self esteem.Having self doubts and being critical of yourself or rather shy does not come near to the cripplingy low self esteem you seem to need to be inspired by this content. The narration takes 7 hours but it feels like all could probably have been summed up in an hour or less.There is a LOT of straw and warm air in the book, endless repetition of the same point or conclusion, long readings of a sequence of tweets or quotes from random people, it can be ok to fill a page or 2 of a book with this but to read them all out comes across as irritating.There's also way too long introductions to people of relative importance who then come up with 1 quote of little importance. The reading is also done with a rather annoying voice that was too nasaly American to my taste (which would gladly have been ignored if the content was good) and filled with needless sensationalist claims, claims which are in the same sentence safeguarded by including words as "possibly, may be" This ... may be one of the best in the world" type of nonsense, which kept reoccuring and annoyed me more and more.Near the end of the book there are examples of to the theories working in the animal kingdom and the author seems to be astonished and impressed it works so well, whilst this seems quite self explanatory, it's probably another attempt to add sensationalism.This ending of the book together with one of the main conclusions and mantra's "fake it until you become it" makes for a fittingly poor ending.This book didn't work for me at all and has been my poorest book on Audible by far.Listening to the excellent Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell after this made it all the more enjoyable.

Has Presence put you off other books in this genre?

No, books like Outliers from Malcolm Gladwell are a world apart from this.

How could the performance have been better?

Less nasal vocals , less sensationalism, more content, less straw and hot air

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Unfortunately none that I could think of

7 people found this helpful

Little more than the (great) Ted talk

I'm a big Amy Cuddy fan and love listening to her talk but to be honest if you have listened to her Ted talk (which I am sure almost all readers will have) then you probably won't learn any other practical tools. Most of the book is spent discussing the importance of presence so I was eager to learn how to achieve it but it turns out the way to do it is power posing etc as per the Ted talk. I guess it's good that she's consistent in her teachings but I just don't think it warrants buying the book.

2 people found this helpful

wonderful. If you liked the TED, you'll love this

What did you like most about Presence?

I think this book is a mirror being held up to each individual. I see myself when I hold back and I see others who do that also. It gives great insight into why and how snap judgements are made of people (and how you can adjust) and why its important, particularly insightful for business/work. Everything Amy refers to is backed up by evidence, it may have come from a gut feeling, but researched and clarified. Amy shares her story and like TED you sense her vulnerability and love her all the more for bringing her authentic self.

What did you like best about this story?

Amy shares her story and like TED you sense her vulnerability and love her all the more for bringing her authentic self.

2 people found this helpful

Awesome listening

Waited for months for this book. Loved every minute of it. Listening to it for the 3rd time

5 people found this helpful

Interesting but repetitive

Interesting but you'll get the point pretty early on. Rest of the book goes through various examples, not sure whether they are needed.

4 people found this helpful

Wonderful

This is a wonderful book for anyone wanting to bring the best of themselves to any situation. The simple, practical ways you can increase your presence are supported by extensive and fascinating research. I train leadership and interpersonal skills - I will be referencing this book enthusiastically in courses from Presentation Skills to Delegation; from Assertiveness to Thinking as a Leader.

1 person found this helpful