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body language - Make Sure You ‘Fit In’
One of the key questions in the mind of the interviewer will almost certainly be
‘Will this person fit in?’ Therefore, if you are perceived as being a good fit
with the prevailing corporate style and culture you will be strengthening your
case. Here again, what you wear can have a disproportionate effect on the
interviewers perception. So, you might be wondering how you can predict what to
wear in order to fit in. It is actually remarkably
easy to get information about the prevailing corporate style. If they have a
website, visit this and see if there any pictures of people at work (but do be
aware that some organizations use library pictures for this). Alternatively, try
getting hold of a copy of the annual reports. Another useful tactic can be to
visit the site at the start, middle or end of the working day and observing the
prevailing dress code of the staff as they come and go; before assembling a
smart version of this for yourself; ahead of the interview.
Recognizing Physiological Responses
When you attend an interview, you are likely to notice one or more of the
following:
Firstly, your temperature is likely to increase and you may notice that you have
sweaty palms, that you feel slightly flushed and maybe even clammy.
Secondly, adrenaline may be pumped into your system and this may make you feel
shaky.
Thirdly, your respiration rate is liable to increase and this may make you feel
stressed and panicky.
Finally, nervous energy may cause you to consume body sugar with the result that
your mouth starts to feel dried out.
These effects - increased temperature, shakiness, panic, stress and a dry mouth
can interact to make you feel extremely nervous, uncomfortable and tongue tied.
However, research has shown that they are not necessarily signs of fear but may
indicate that you are gearing up to perform. Many entertainers, public speakers
and competitive sports people report the same four symptoms immediately prior to
performing - often before giving the best performance of their lives. In the
context of an important interview that is precisely what you should be aiming to
do. Therefore, recognizing the symptoms for what they are shouldn’t panic you,
as they may well enable you to perform better on the day.
Positive Visualization
The subconscious mind works on past experiences, hopes and fears. In being
apprehensive ahead of an interview it is easy for your sub-conscious to focus on
negative outcomes and thereby magnify your concerns. If you concentrate on your
own nervousness then you will be drawing this to the attention of the
interviewer and the impact of your message will be weakened. If you become aware
that the interviewer is observing your nervous state this can serve to heighten
your self-consciousness. Before the interview, you
should try to visualize an enthusiastic interviewer; who is reacting positively
to your responses. Picture yourself delivering a clear and interesting
presentation; admit to yourself that you may be nervous but that you are going
to use this in a positive way. Remember that the
interviewer is not your adversary and they are not attending the interview in
order to pull you apart. Their interest lies in what you might say and show
them. If you keep your responses focused on the message and try to relax then
they will be able to concentrate on taking your message on board.
Overcoming Negative Thoughts
You may be convinced that they have formed an unfavourable first impression of
you. Ignore this thought. Professional interviewers and other managers are
increasingly trained to overcome their initial reactions and to apply more
scientific interview techniques. Even if you have stumbled and made a weak first
impression you can turn their opinion round, so keep working hard at making the
right impression throughout the remainder of the interview.
The first impression is important; but always approach the interview in a
holistic manner, you are a winner and you are there to win!
Aspects of Body Language
Body language is a very important part of any communication. It
will be analyzed by the interviewer; even if they are unaware of this at the
conscious level. A brilliantly prepared interview
delivered in an interesting voice will fall well short of the mark if
accompanied by negative, intrusive or hostile body language. There are three main aspects of body language
that you should consider: what to do with your eyes, what your facial
expressions indicate and the positioning and movement of your torso and limbs.
Mirroring
In any intimate communication there is a natural tendency to mirror the pose and
position of the person you are talking to, and this behaviour tends to result in
a more relaxed and agreeable atmosphere. You can help to put the interviewer at
ease by being aware of this and making a positive but subtle effort to mirror
their body language. The concept of mirroring is based on the well-known human
trait of like attracting like. People generally like people that appear to be
similar to them. Therefore, by observing the interviewers body language and
reflecting this back at them they are likely to feel more at ease and friendly
towards you. An individual’s facial expression, tone
of voice, body posture and movement often convey a world of detail about what
they are thinking and feeling and how they are reacting to what you are saying.
The effective use and interpretation of body language communication will help
you to identify subtle aspects of the interviewer’s attitudes and reactions.
This understanding and interpretation of body language is a key component of
intelligent listening.
Maintaining LPM
As most interviews are held with both parties seated it is important to convey a
positive message in the way you sit. In particular, this comes down to the
placement of your arms and legs. With the upper limbs the guideline is that the
less a person moves their hands and arms, the more powerful they are. This
supports the view that they are used to people listening to them and they
therefore do not have to resort to gesticulation to get their point across. The
technical term for this is Low Peripheral Movement, or LPM. When being
interviewed, maintain LPM and you will make a more impressive impact with your
interviewer. Try to keep your hands lower than your
elbows; rest them on the arms of the chair, your thighs or even make a low
steeple with the fingers of both hands.
How to Sit at Interview
The everyday seating position, with legs crossed high-up is not suitable for the
interview setting because in this intimate context it actually conveys a
defensive attitude. Your legs need to convey
confidence and there are two key positions that can communicate this - the low
cross or athletic position. The athletic position is where one leg is brought
under your chair so that only the toe of that shoe is in contact with the floor.
The other leg is firmly planted on the floor, parallel with the direction of the
chair, with the entire sole of that shoe on the floor. This is a powerful
position, conveying a readiness for action. The
athletic position is often not suited to female clothing and here the low cross
position, where the legs are kept together and crossed at the ankles is often
the best option.
Effective Eye Contact
The face shown below has a shaded area that indicates the correct target zone
for positive eye contact. Looking anywhere within this shaded zone represents
positive eye contact. Think about where else you might
be tempted to look at someone’s face during a conversation; which area of the
face do you think would cause the most discomfort to the person being looked at?
Looking at someone’s face anywhere outside of the triangular target zone is
likely to cause some degree of embarrassment. However, the no-go zones shown are
both associated with strong adverse reactions.
Zone A represents the intimate zone and by moving just a fraction below the base
of the target triangle you will enter it. When this happens people typically
react by feeling that the other person is staring at them, or that the observer
looks shifty.
Zone B represents a dominant zone and by looking at the forehead of another
person you are likely to invoke a reaction that you appear to be arrogant, that
you are staring straight through them or more commonly that you are talking down
at them.
As well as understanding how to make positive eye contact it is also important
to ensure that you do maintain this form of communication even if the interview
does not appear to be going as well as you had hoped. If this is the case you
will need all of the help you can muster to get the interview back on track and
maintaining the correct amount of positive eye contact may help to do this.
Eye contact with the interviewer is an essential part of the interview
process. Without it they will feel remote from you and are unlikely to relate to
one another, or what you are saying in a meaningful way. Not many people realize
how important eye contact is, or how sensitive people are to it. Eye contact
should be a positive form of body language communication, but if it is not used
correctly it can easily become negative.
Instigating Eye Contact
Understanding where to look to make positive eye contact is only part of the
story. You also need to know how and when to use this non-verbal communication.
The amount of eye contact you make should differ fundamentally depending on
whether you are in the role of speaker or listener. It is in the role of
listener that you should instigate more eye contact and hold it for longer
periods of time. It supports your role as an attentive listener, whereas
overusing eye contact when speaking may appear a demand for the interviewer to
pay attention. As a speaker holding eye contact initially for 5 to 10 seconds
and after that using it in an intermittent way is ideal. This way you do not
appear to be lecturing or hectoring and the listener does not feel that they are
being challenged to a staring contest. It is normal for the listener to maintain
eye contact for longer than the speaker who will typically break off and then
revisit this form of contact as they are speaking. Eye
contact when used positively can be a very effective form of non-verbal
communication. However, excessive or inappropriate eye contact will prevent you
establishing a good relationship with your interviewer.
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