Research in the field of ‘embodied cognition’ helps us influence the way others feel about our arguments and ourselves. The connection between the brain and the body is a two-way street, so we can use physical factors to improve mental responses.
In the case of the warm cup, researchers such as John Bargh of Yale did a series of experiments to prove that touching different objects has the power to influence perception. The people holding warm cups concluded that a stranger was more generous, more sociable, than the people holding cold cups.
Subjects holding jagged jigsaw puzzle pieces were more likely to rate an interaction between two people as charged. Those holding weighty clipboards rated the jobseekers they interviewed as more important.
Thalma Lobel, a psychologist at Tel Aviv University, has looked into how things we touch, smell, and feel unconsciously sway our minds. Her findings are published in Sensation: The New Science of Physical Intelligence.
So, to apply principles of embodied cognition to get your presentation over the line, think carefully about the implications of room temperature, the weight of handout materials, warm drinks, comfort food, and what people are sitting on. Hard chairs may not encourage a positive reception to your idea!