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BY Joel Junker

Body Language Impacts Interviewing Confidence and Stress

We just finished the January 2013 Conference Tuesday night.  The January Candidates are not only hard workers and strong leaders, but also great people!  Thank you for your partnership! 

My colleague Rob Davis will write a post in the coming week with a quick recap.  In the meantime, please enjoy this post on body language and confidence.

Interviewing is stressful, and when we feel stressed many of us change our communication habits, both verbal and non-verbal.  Unfortunately, this nervousness affects an interviewee’s confidence and impression.  I have coached JMO candidates for over 13 years now on successful interviewing.  This problem of nervousness translating to projecting lack of enthusiasm, energy, passion and excitement is a real problem.  I would say that one of the top reasons company recruiters rule out candidates is due to lack of enthusiasm.  For those who follow the blog, you know it is true because I have written on this topic so many times.  The reason why our company recruiters rule out candidates on this factor is that they are looking for strong leaders who can catalyze actions in others. 

I believe I have FINALLY found a great tool to help our JMO candidates and anyone preparing to interview, or to build confidence for any situation in life, in a TED Talk by Amy Cuddy: “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are.” 

Amy Cuddy lays out a compelling argument that our body language not only affects the impression we make on others, BUT more importantly, how it affects our confidence, power and stress levels.  She then gives great tips on utilizing the right posture and practicing power postures.  At the end of her talk, she passionately asks the audience to share the science and try the power pose.  I am doing both with this blog.

http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are.html

Joel Junker