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In everyday speech and popular psychology, the term “ Body Language ” is most often applied to body language that is considered involuntary, though the distinction between voluntary and involuntary body language is often controversial. For example, a smile may be produced either consciously or unconsciously.
Voluntary body language means movements, gestures and poses intentionally made by a person, such as conscious smiling, hand movements and imitation. It can apply to many types of silent communication. Generally, movement made with full or partial intention and an understanding of what it communicates can be considered voluntary.
Involuntary body language often takes the form of facial expression, and has therefore been suggested as a means to identify the emotions of a person with whom you are communicating.
By familiarizing ourselves with a few basic non-verbal signals we can become aware of what we are broadcasting to the world with our own non-verbal cues and we can improve our ability to understand what people are really communicating
Our body posture, movements and positions more often reveal exactly what we mean, and it may just be the exact opposite of what we are actually saying! Many people are unaware of how loudly they communicate with their bodies.
Our use and reading of body language is largely unconscious. We understand what a person indicates with their gestures and body positions and we send out our own messages - but we rarely stop to think about how we do it.
Everyone uses body language during a job interview, but very few think about it in advance and modify their body language to produce the most positive effect.
During an interview you can use words to explain what type of education you have received and what experience you have gained since then. You can also show through words that you know what you're talking about and you can answer questions to clarify matters.
At the same time however, your body language will also give out a lot more information. Based on your body language you can come across as insecure or self-assured, it can show if you are a busy or a quiet type and it helps give an impression of whether you are speaking truthfully or not.
Body language can show if you are prone to stress or not. It can show how enthusiastic you are and if you are a nice person, someone who will take the job seriously, but also someone who has a sense of humour and can enjoy a joke from time to time.
Here are a few basic tips on how to handle that all important job interview. Some of them may seem fairly obvious, but it's amazing how often we don't even consider this aspect of an interview.
Perhaps the most important thing right at the beginning of an interview is to offer a warm, genuine smile, showing friendliness, openness and interest, also try to keep your hands open with the palms visible and unbutton your coat upon being seated, this will help you to appear more confident. Once seated try to adopt a posture that shows interest but still comes across as being relaxed, you can do this by sitting up straight in your chair at the beginning of the interview, with your back against the back of the chair.
If you slouch or hang sideways in your chair, it might give the impression that you are not that interested in the job. However, sitting on the edge of your chair can come across as being a little tense and might give the impression that you feel uncomfortable. As the interview progresses you can communicate confidence by leaning forward a little in your chair, but remember to keep your chin up! Nodding your head while speaking is a good way of supporting your words or adding meaning to them.
In a difficult situation we are often inclined to fold our arms across our body, helping to make us feel more secure, but during a job interview it is better not to do this, because folding your arms can be interpreted as a defensive move. Make a conscious effort to rest your hands in your lap, or place them on the armrests of your chair, as this will also help you to avoid nervous gestures such as touching or covering a part of your face with your hands, pulling at an ear, running your fingers through your hair, wringing your hands, twiddling your thumbs or biting your nails.
However, it's not such a bad thing to show a little nervousness. The interviewer will understand this. Your nervousness may even show that you feel this job is important to you. If you weren't nervous, it might indicate that you are not that interested.
Also realise that the job interview is more than just a means for the employer to determine which of the candidates is most suitable for the job. The job interview especially is a moment of mutual acquaintance. It's a first meeting with people that you might soon work together with. Therefore the boss should actually be just as nervous as you!
Pay attention to any other inadvertent movements that you may make due to nervousness. For example, shuffling your feet or kicking against the leg of a table can be very irritating for other people. Drumming with your fingers or clicking with a pen also won't be a great contribution to the interview. Smoking, whistling, fidgeting, clearing your throat, biting on pens or other objects and tongue clicking should all be avoided.
And remember that frowning, squinting, crossing your arms in front of your chest, touching your nose, looking down when speaking, clenching your fists, pointing, chopping one hand into the open palm of the other, rubbing the back of your neck or clasping your hands behind your head while leaning back in your chair may all show you as being untrustworthy or defensiveness.
The postures and movements of your interviewer can also give you an impression of how you are coming across to them. This can serve as a warning at an early stage that you might be doing something wrong. For example, if the interviewer thinks that you are talking too much or you annoy him with your interruptions, he will show his irritation at first through his body language. If he shakes his head, sighs or folds his arms and leans back, you can take this as a sign of displeasure, but don't worry, usually it's not too late to change this, because it also applies that your interviewer's body language is subconscious, so if you are quick enough you can correct your behaviour before the irritation transfers to his consciousness.
As you can see, there are far more negatives than positives--possibly more than we are consciously aware of. In actual fact we don't just want to help you adopt a little positive body language but more importantly we want you to be able to recognize and avoid the negatives. If you have a habit of doing any of the above negatives, you should now work on removing that action from your pattern of behavior before it sends the wrong signal. Concentrate on removing it now so you will not have to think about it during the interview!
Margaret Wood
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