Book review: Presence: bringing your boldest self to your biggest challenges by Amy Cuddy

Have you ever wished for a second chance at a job interview, performance or difficult conversation? Drawing upon her popular TED talk, in Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, Harvard Business School Professor Amy Cuddy encourages readers to see transformative power in small ‘nudges’ in behaviour, body language and mind-set that can generate a better sense of ‘presence’ in our everyday lives. Marion Koob finds much in the way of useful advice within the book but wonders if its central ideas could have been outlined in a shorter span and wishes for more explicit connection between Cuddy’s claims and related contemporary research.