4) Making Yourself Stick: Body Language
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Hand Gesture Strategy
You do not have a PowerPoint Presentation or a whiteboard during an interview. The only tools to compliment your words are your hands.
Many students do not realize what their mannerisms and gestures are during an interview. When you practice with a friend, make sure that she focuses on how you’re moving your hands and how you use them while telling a story. Here are the strategies that will greatly improve your hand gesture effectiveness:
1. Use both hands
Two heads are better than one; two hands are better than one. It looks strange when you actively use one hand and leave the other one dead on your lap. Practice using both hands in unison to make your stories much more captivating and sticky.
2. Use fluid motions and strong emphasizing motions
A fluid motion with your hands along with your speech makes you feel more confident and calm. It helps to set up a situation and lay out the structure and framework of your answer. Use strong, emphasizing motions when you want to drive a point home. The combination of fluid motions and strong, emphasizing motions allow your story to stick more concretely in the mind of the interviewer.
Very fast, jerky movements give off the impression of nervousness or unimportance. Shoulder shrugs and open palms facing up make you feel as if you don’t know what you’re talking about and that you’re unsure about your answer.
3. Everything in moderation
Using hand gestures is great, but overusing hand gestures makes them lose their significance. You do not have to use your hands as tools just because you have them. Just like your speech, use your hands in a controlled manner that adds to your answers. The simpler and more concise that your hand movements are, the stickier your stories will be.
Body Language
Your body language is constantly throwing subconscious messages to your interviewer that she is registering whether she realizes it or not. Practice with a friend so that she can give you feedback on your mannerisms and how you can improve them. Remember, your body language is very important and you must practice it in order to get it down right.
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