Talk to the Hand: Mastering Job Interview Gestures
The silent language of successful hand gestures.
Here’s what happens when you post a response or ask a question in one of my posts: You get another (hopefully helpful!) post. :)
I posted my latest Substack article on how your body language can send a signal about your income level and status on LinkedIn. Someone on that platform then mentioned he was in the midst of a lot of interviews and mentioned he might gesture too much in meetings.
So, I responded with some quick interview tips on hand gestures, which I am re-posting here for those of you who do not follw me on LI.
I shared this post to my LinkedIn profile, and had someone ask about hand gestures during job interviews, because he's in the process of interviewing now. I posted some tips on LinkedIn, but am re-posting here for those of you who might not be on LI.
Here goes…
Hand gesture tips in the intereivew:
Avoid Hidden Hands: The temptation among people who gesture too largely or too often is to hide their hands. Problem solved, right? Not quite. If your audience can’t see your hands, it sets off a subconscious trigger that you can’t be trusted. So, make sure your audience can see your hands—even if you are in a video interview. (If on video, have your camera set a little farther away so that they can see more than just your head and shoulders.
Use Open Hands: When you gesture with your palms at a 45-degree angle to each other, you communicate honesty and openness. This gesture is especially powerful to use when answering questions about your weaknesses or past failures. The open palms sends a message of, “I’ve got nothin’ to hide here.”
Palms Down: This gesture shows confidence and competence. When you speak about your credentials, your successes or even just some ideas you have, include gestures with your palms down. Why? Because this gesture signals certainty, self-assuredness, control, and power. In other words, the audience will believe that you are capable of helping them accomplish whatever it is they need to accomplish.
Palms Facing Each Other: Finally, when answering those behavioral “tell-me-a-time-when” questions, be sure to include gestures where your palms face each other and your fingers touch. (But NOT a “steeple pose” where the tips of your fingers are pointed up toward the ceiling—which portrays arrogance. Instead, have your palms face each other and your fingers touching while the tips of your fingers are pointed forward—toward the audience or camera.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned tomorrow for tips on how to use tone of voice to convey intelligence in speeches, meetings, and job interviews.
And, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comment section. I’m happy to help if I can. :)