According to Malcolm Gladwell you have 15 seconds to make an impression and impact in a job interview. In his book “What the dog saw” he describes how the first 15 seconds of any job interviews determines how the interview panel rates you and your ultimate success at getting that job. This and many other studies reiterate the importance of body language in your public speaking, presentation skills and everyday interactions. A commonly quoted number is that over 50% of your message is contained within your gestures and body language.
So how well do you know your body language? Have you done any work on growing, expanding or improving your gestural vocabulary? How often do you get feedback from an audience on how they perceive or read your body language? Have you practised in front of mirror or seen yourself on video presenting? If you want to improve your communication skills and effectiveness as a speaker, presenter or trainer then you could certainly do so by investing in your body language.
I recommend two books that may help you become more aware of your body language and gestures.
• “Body Language In The Work Place” by Allan and Barbara Pease
• “The Elusive Obvious – The Science of Non Verbal Communication” by Michael Grinder
Over the week I am also going to run a series of Facebook posts, each on a different aspect of body language. So if this does interest you, follow us on Facebook.