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TED Talks' Amy Cuddy to speak at Tofino event Sunday

From TED Talks to Tofino, Amy Cuddy is about to prove you never know unless you try.

The famed American social psychologist Amy Joy Casselberry Cuddy is well-known for research on nonverbal behaviour, discrimination and stereotyping. She has over 18 million views on her TED Talk, and she's coming to Tofino on Sunday to address West

Coasters at the Clayoquot Community Theatre at 7 p.m. Tofino attorney and chamber board member Patrick Canning reached out to Cuddy on a sort of dare from Tofino-Long Beach-Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce executive director Gord Johns, who suggested he contact Cuddy after both were impressed with her message.

"It's about how your body language affects you," Canning said of Cuddy's talk. "It actually affects your hormones - immediately."

Cuddy's research into "power poses" - stances of confidence and positivity - revealed that in a blind test, interviewers selected candidates who had done "power poses" prior to the interview, Canning said.

It won't be the first time Cuddy proved something. According to www.ted.com, as a college student Cuddy suffered a severe head injury in a car accident.

Doctors predicted a struggle to regain mental capacity and finish her degree.

Cuddy showed them. She is now a professor at Harvard Business School. Her story and her presentation amazed Canning.

"I watched it, and I was blown away," he said. "I sent her a quick email, and she emailed back right away."

"Why don't you invite her out here?" Johns suggested.

"I told her about Tofino and Ucluelet and how great a community it is," Canning said, adding that he was still surprised by her acceptance of his invite to speak, and to make the mini-TED a fundraiser for the Tla-O-Qui-Aht App, a regional effort to create an interactive smartphone app for learning the language.

Qui-Aht First Nation's language. "I got an email from her, she said 'My family and I are coming out on these dates, I'm happy to speak,'" he recalled.

Tickets for Sunday's event are $15.

editor@westerlynews.ca