Improve Your Body Language, Good Tips for Job seekers
1. Dont cross your arms or legs You have probably already heard you
shouldnt cross your arms as it might make you seem defensive or
guarded. This goes for your legs too. Keep your arms and legs open.
2. Have eye contact, but dont stare If there are several people you are
talking to, give them all some eye contact to create a better connection
and see if they are listening. Keeping too much eye-contact might creep
people out. Giving no eye-contact might make you seem insecure. If you
are not used to keeping eye-contact it might feel a little hard or scary
in the beginning but keep working on it and youll get used to it.
3. Dont be afraid to take up some space “ Taking up space by for example
sitting or standing with your legs apart a bit signals self-confidence
and that you are comfortable in your own skin.
4. Relax your shoulders “ When you feel tense its easily winds up as
tension in your shoulders. They might move up and forward a bit. Try to
relax. Try to loosen up by shaking the shoulders a bit and move them
back slightly.
5. Nod when they are talking nod once in a while to signal that you are
listening. But dont overdo it and peck like Woody Woodpecker.
6. Dont slouch, sit up straight but in a relaxed way, not in a too tense manner.
7. Lean, but not too much “ If you want to show that you are interested
in what someone is saying, lean toward the person talking. If you want
to show that youre confident in yourself and relaxed lean back a bit.
But dont lean in too much or you might seem needy and desperate for some
approval. Or lean back too much or you might seem arrogant and distant.
8. Smile and laugh â lighten up, dont take yourself too seriously. Relax
a bit, smile and laugh when someone says something funny. People will
be a lot more inclined to listen to you if you seem to be a positive
person. But dont be the first to laugh at your own jokes, it makes you
seem nervous and needy. Smile when you are introduced to someone but
dont keep a smile plastered on your face, you'll seem
insincere.
9. Dont touch your face it might make you seem nervous and can be
distracting for the listeners or the people in the conversation.
10. Keep you head up. Dont keep your eyes on the ground, it might make
you seem insecure and a bit lost. Keep your head up straight and your
eyes towards the horizon.
11. Slow down a bit this goes for many things. Walking slower not only
makes you seem more calm and confident, it will also make you feel less
stressed. If someone addresses you, dont snap youre neck in their
direction, turn it a bit more slowly instead.
12. Dont fidget try to avoid, phase out or transform fidgety movement
and nervous ticks such as shaking your leg or tapping your fingers
against the table rapidly. You'll seem nervous and fidgeting
can be a distracting when you try to get something across. Declutter
your movements if you are all over the place. Try to relax, slow down
and focus your movements.
13. Use your hands more confidently instead of fidgeting with your hands
and scratching your face use them to communicate what you are trying to
say. Use your hands to describe something or to add weight to a point
you are trying to make. But dont use them to much or it might become
distracting. And dont let your hands flail around, use them with some
control.
14. Lower your drink dont hold your drink in front of your chest. In
fact, dont hold anything in front of your heart as it will make you seem
guarded and distant. Lower it and hold it beside your leg instead.
15. Realise where you spine ends many people might sit or stand with a straight back in a good posture. However, they might
think that the spine ends where the neck begins and therefore crane the
neck forward in a Montgomery Burns-pose. Your spine ends in the back of
your head. Keep you whole spine straight and aligned for better posture.
16. Dont stand too close one of the things we learned from Seinfeld is
that everybody gets weirded out by a close-talker. Let people have their
personal space, donât invade it.
17. Mirror - Often when you get along with a person, when the two of you
get a good connection, you will start to mirror each other
unconsciously. That means that you mirror the other persons body
language a bit. To make the connection better you can try a bit of
proactive mirroring. If he leans forward, you might lean forward. If she
holds her hands on her thighs, you might do the same. But dont react
instantly and don't mirror every change in body language. Then
weirdness will ensue.
18. Keep a good attitude “ last but not least, keep a positive, open and
relaxed attitude. How you feel will come through in your body language
and can make a major difference.
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