As a featured speaker for the weeklong Career Days event, Danielle Baker discussed “The Science of Leadership” Thursday May 4, at 11 a.m. in the Gaiser Student Center.
Baker is a certified body language coach and professional speaker through the Science of People. Her speech was centered around the key idea of harnessing one’s presence and use of body language.
Handfuls of captivated students gathered at tables to jot down notes and eat pizza as they listened to her presentation.
Baker said body language is different for everyone; in order to make an interview or conversation with an employer comfortable, there has to first be comfort in one’s presence. “The biggest thing to take away is always being unique and authentic, and true to yourself,” Baker said.
She first became passionate about the subject when she met the founder of the Science of People, Vanessa Van Edwards, who studies behavioral concepts. Baker began working for the organization about three and a half years ago. “I just felt called that the psychology and human behavior was where I was meant to be,” Baker said.
Cindy Nguyen is an Educational Events Coordinator from Clark’s Activities Programming Board. She arranged Baker’s visit to Clark as well as organized the details behind the event such as the free Domino’s pizza.
Nguyen invited Baker so students could build leadership skills in preparation for job interviews. “For fall quarter there’s going to be opening ASCC and APB leadership positions,” Nguyen said. Along with these positions are those offered by over 90 employers as part of Clark’s Career Days Fair.
“>Nguyen said that it’s important for Clark students to absorb all the resources they can from Baker, such as building charisma and being able to catch the poor signals that their body language can create. “Non-verbal cues are important too,” Nguyen said.
