Essence Magazine asked me to
give three tips for interview body language that may surprise you.
- Don’t keep your hands in
your lap. Keep hands in view, ideally open showing the palms of the hands
to show openness and confidence and approachability.
- Don’t always make eye
contact. While you should maintain eye contact with the interviewer when
they are speaking, it's ok if you look away as you are talking and
forming your thoughts. In fact, it may be necessary to look away.
- Don’t ever cross your
arms. It's not as horrible as you might think to cross your arms.
It’s not the ideal posture but, you may need a brief arm cross to comfort
yourself like a little self-hug during an interview. But only do it once
or twice and make it very brief. Because research shows that if you do
you retain 38% percent less information, have higher levels of stress and
a more negative view of whoever is speaking.
