by Ginger Cooper

Created on: August 06, 2009

According to every how-to interview website on the internet, body language speaks volumes about our personalities, our attitudes, our perceptions. According to Performance Systems, 7% of face to face communication is verbal while 93% of meaning is communicated non-verbally through tone and body language. Spoken language is the literal message: Non-verbal cues suggest the ways our literal messages should be interpreted. Sadly, we sometimes say the right things but sabotage what we mean to say by presenting conflicting non-verbal cues.

All is not lost, though! Putting our best interviewing foot forward can mean honing our acting skills. Preparing for interviews should include time in front of a mirror practicing answers to as many questions as we can think of. This allows us the opportunity to view ourselves from the interviewer's point of view. Learning not to scrunch our eyebrows together when we're thinking of answers to difficult or vague questions or learning to maintain a pleasant smile through a frustrating interruption takes practice, and there is no better way to catch those pesky non-verbal responses than by looking at ourselves in the mirror.

Doing a little research online helps, too. HelpGuide.org offers excellent explanations of non-verbal communication. Understanding non-verbal communication helps you see how others could interpret your body language, which also helps you notice if your own body language is reinforcing your spoken message or contradicting it. Get a friend to help you practice interviewing in front of a video camera, or record a mock interview using a tape recorder. Using a video camera will allow you to notice whether you make eye contact, lean forward to indicate interest, tap your foot or swing your leg to indicate anxiety or discomfort, or relax your shoulders and smile to indicate comfortable confidence. Using an audio recorder helps you notice how your tone of voice influences the way an interviewer might interpret what you have to say.

Doing a little research should also include websites that offer interviewing advice to employers. Hcareers, for instance, suggests interviewers look for specific non-verbal cues. In the hospitality industry, slouching indicates sloppiness, a weak handshake or mumbling indicates low self-esteem, staring at the interviewer indicates an overbearing personality, while little or no eye contact means the interviewee is distracted. Finding out what interviewers expect to see in an interviewee means looking at websites designed to educate employers in the art of hiring employees.

Understanding non-verbal communication also helps the interviewee understand the interviewer's responses. The more we know about non-verbal communication, the less likely we are to contradict ourselves without realizing it.

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