Topics Tuesday: Are More Choices Better?

Hello one and all.

Today we're not having Topics Tuesday.

 ...April Fool's! I know, such a good joke. OF COURSE we're having Topics Tuesday, where I write about all things Topics in Composition, our writing center staff development course.

This week, my group worked on our research project. That might not be the most thrilling thing for you to read about at this point (though it will be when we are done)! Instead, I want to direct you to a poignant TEDTalk by Barry Schwartz called "The Paradox of Choice."


I remember watching this video last fall in Topics. I still think about it often, especially in relation to conferences.

In short, Schwartz talks about how more options is not always better. Sometimes, having too many choices paralyzes us.

I think this concept can be true for writing as well. A writer has endless possibilities for the content, organization, and style of the paper. Starting a paper can be incredibly daunting.

When I conference, I try to help the writer focus on a few choices at a time. I ask the writer to think hypothetically about what the paper would look like if they chose to take one particular direction. Thinking about one option at a time can help the writer move forward, even if he later decides on a different path.

-Angela

Topics Tuesday: Power Posing

Hello, one and all, and welcome to the last Tuesday before Spring Break!

Every college student is feeling the pressure to hit the gym and achieve that perfect Spring Break body. At last night's staff meeting, CWC consultants learned how to do just that.

Or, at least, the perfect body language.

Alright, let me explain. In the interest of staff development, Dr. Bob let us watch Amy Cuddy's 20-minute TED talk entitled, "Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are." Since the point of Topics in Composition class (which, if you just started reading our blog, is the subject of this weekly feature) is staff development, I thought it would be good to talk about the video in this post.

If you have 20 minutes, I would highly encourage you to watch the full video. If not, I will give a brief summary. Cuddy, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, discusses the poses we unintentionally perform every day that denote power or denote lack of power. We can often tell who the Alpha Leaders in the room are by how they position their bodies -- spread out, taking lots of space, maybe with arms or legs outstretched. Similarly, we can tell who is feeling uncomfortable -- hunched up, legs crossed, and looking down. Experimental evidence has found that people who perform the low-power poses are less likely to receive a job after a strenuous interview.

Remarkably, Cuddy suggests the pose affects the performance, rather than the performance affecting the pose. We feel more powerful when we look more powerful, and that, in turn, allows us to perform better. Doing a high-power pose for just 2 minutes before a stressful situation (like a job interview) can, according to Cuddy, increase testosterone levels (a power hormone) and decrease cortisol levels (a stress hormone), making us better equipped to perform to the best of our abilities.

What does this mean for CWC consultants? It means that to perform to the best of our abilities, we should monitor our body language. When we are unsure of what to do next in a conference, we should stretch out and make ourselves comfortable. It also means we can gauge our student writers better. We have a visual representation of how confident they are feeling and we can work on increasing confidence if we notice a low-power pose. One way to do this might be as simple as asking the student to stretch.

Hitting the gym won't be necessary -- let's do some power poses instead.

All of Tuesday's best,
Angela