The Batman effect: why you need to create an alter ego to see you through your next big meeting

The Batman Effect

Credit: Getty

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The Batman effect: why you need to create an alter ego to see you through your next big meeting

By Meg Walters

Updated 2 years ago

4 min read

Career coach Francesca O’Connor talks us through how using ‘the Batman effect’ to create a professional alter ego might see you through your next big meeting.


We all want to feel like our best selves at work, especially when we’ve got a big presentation or meeting on the horizon. However, no matter how much you imagine yourself looking, sounding, thinking and being your best, it’s usually nothing more than a fantasy. Once you get in the meeting room, you might find yourself fidgeting, drifting off or yawning. When you get up to speak, you might fumble your words or lose your train of thought. While you might not know what exactly went wrong, you do know one thing – everyone in that room noticed.

As Francesca O’Connor, career coach and director at social learning practice Good Shout, explains to Stylist, one of the main reasons we never seem to meet our own expectations in important meetings is simply nerves. While you may feel bold, confident and outgoing before the meeting, once you’re in the room, nerves can quickly take over. Sometimes, it can help to trick yourself into thinking you’re, well… someone else entirely.

“It is absolutely essential to be yourself in professional settings, but sometimes leaning into an alter ego in a meeting can be a helpful tool to help manage nerves,” O’Connor says. She and the team at Good Shout recommend trying to cultivate a stronger, braver alternative self that “still has all the important elements of you”.

Introducing the Batman effect

As O’Connor explains, there is scientific evidence to show that an alter ego can help you do away with big meeting jitters once and for all. 

“Alter egos are psychologically proven to help us out in difficult situations. It’s called the Batman effect,” she says. “The power of dual personalities.”

By creating a powerful alter ego – like, you know, Batman – you are doing an extreme form of ‘self-distancing’. This, O’Connor says, is a great way to step away from your immediate worries and anxieties. “It allows us to view a situation more dispassionately,” she says. “It allows us to rein in undesirable feelings like anxiety and fear and boosts our self-control.”

Woman in a meeting at work

Credit: Getty

The psychology behind the Batman effect

While adopting an alter ego may seem extreme and even a little weird, it’s a surprisingly common tactic that has helped numerous people discover untapped parts of themselves.

“Some of the most creative minds have used alter egos for centuries to bring out their weirder, more outrageous or more confident side,” O’Connor says. “Sasha Fierce is just a bit louder. Sexier. Ziggy Stardust and David Bowie’s other personas helped a very introverted man express himself to the fullest on stage.”

Ziggy Stardust helped an introvert express himself

Francesca O'Connor

The Batman effect was first coined by Ethan Kross, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. “He’s shown even small shifts in perspective help people control their emotions more effectively,” says O’Connor.

Kross has conducted various studies into the Batman effect. In one study, he tested how participants were able to focus on word puzzles before and after they began thinking of themselves in the second person, as though they were another character.

“Without exception, this tactic was more effective versus those who didn’t,” says O’Connor. “Those who used their alter egos got the puzzles completed quicker.”

Young woman talking with team in a meeting, people having planning meeting in hybrid office, with colleagues joing via video call.

Credit: Getty

Finding your inner Batman

So, how can you actually build an alter ego for big meetings?

1. Find out where your ‘gaps’ are. 

What do you want to work on? What do you need to improve? What aspects of your personality tend to fall by the wayside when you become stressed?

2. Find some inspiration

“Find a person or an alter ego that inspires you and motivates you to be the best version of you,” says O’Connor.

This might be a real superhero or it might simply be someone you see as a hero – your professional idol, your favourite actor, your best friend. 

“It’s not about becoming an actual superhero; it’s about leaning into the qualities you already have but just need to supercharge,” she says.

3. Get creative

“Have fun with it,” suggests O’Connor. “Give the alter ego a name, visualise the character.”

If you really want to embody this ‘character’, make them as real as possible. Think about their walk, their voice and their behaviours. Then try to embody them. 

“Visualise how you apply these characteristics in everyday situations,” says O’Connor. “How would your alter ego walk into their interview or answer that tough question or present in that meeting?”

Once you’ve nailed down your own superhero alter ego, play with it and have some fun. But most importantly, remember to bring your best elements into the character. As O’Connor puts it, “This is a way to enhance, not hide or change ourselves.”


Image: Getty

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