The Power of Hand Gestures During Interviews

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In June 2012 social Psychologist Amy Cuddy gave a TED Talk called ‘Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are’. In it she explains how adopting ‘power poses’ for a few minutes (such as legs broadly apart with hands on hips) can trigger hormones that improve our confidence. It’s since been watched more than 30 million times.

It’s obvious how striking a power pose before a job interview – but what can you do when you’re actually in the interview room sitting across the table of the hiring manager? Pulling out a Superman pose must be one of the surest ways to make sure you don’t get the job.

Luckily you can still appear confident with some more subtle body behaviour – in fact, a few simple hand gestures can help put you at ease and suggest to the interview that you’re calm and in control.



Inspire confidence
If you’ve power posed before your interview you should hopefully feel pretty relaxed and france phone number library assured of yourself. Make the most of this by deliberately positioning your hands and arms to inspire an immediate look of confidence. Crossed arms can appear defensive and off-putting, so rest your hands on top of each other, or keep one on the arm of your chair. By taking up a wider position, this can make you appear more powerful and assured, immediately creating a positive impact on your interviewer.



Move – but don’t fidget
Staying fixed in the same position for the entire duration of your interview will not only feel pretty uncomfortable – it will also make you come across as unnatural and stiff in your communication too.

While you’ll want to avoid fidgeting and moving around excessively, by adjusting your position to subtly mirror your interviewer, you can help relieve your nerves whilst showing the other person that you are comfortable too.