Having looked at various forms of body language with examples, it’s time to look at how to apply this knowledge to communication in the workplace. In professional life, understanding and using body language belongs to the communicative soft skills of an employee.
Even during the job interview, body language plays an essential role. The time for both parties to make an impression is limited, which is why nonverbal signals are used above average during this mutual evaluation – since you can only talk about professional skills, but not really get a realistic picture of them.
For applicants, it’s important to make a sovereign and confident, but not overbearing, impression. That’s why you should be aware of what your nervous gestures give away, for example by asking family and friends. For example, if you’re always playing around with your hair or plucking at your beard, you could try crossing your arms in your lap. During the conversation, you should be sitting in a calm but upright position. If you’re leaning back with crossed legs on a chair, you might come across as disinterested and unmotivated.
If you’re the one taking the interviews on the other hand, you should focus on sending out positive signals to help create a calm environment and calm the applicant’s nerves. You can achieve this through friendly gestures and occasional questions. If you have any criticism, then it’s best to not directly confront the applicant with this, but to use the proven sandwich method, whereby you sandwich criticism in between positive aspects.
A further common situation in which body language plays an essential role are negotiations. Whether a contract negotiation with a client or with your boss: These conversations usually imply that both parties have different views and must find a compromise. The previously mentioned aspects concerning job interviews equally apply here. But beyond this, you can make use of targeted gestures in this kind of situation, to show that you sympathize with the other person’s views but also to clearly bring your own points across.
A proven strategy is the so-called mirror method, whereby you – discreetly – mirror some of your counterpart’s gestures, signaling that you’re on the same page and can relate to their “counterview.” If you sense that the conversation might be in danger of slipping into a heated discussion, a change in seating can help calm down the situation. If, for example, you’re sitting across from one another to start, you could choose to sit beside your negotiation partner, should there be enough space to do so. This signals that both parties are working towards the same goal, but just have to decide on the path there.
Should you already find yourself in the midst of a discussion, then calming gestures, like holding out one or both open palms (without a defensive posture) or the calm lowering of your hands, can soften a situation.
However, you shouldn’t let yourself derail too much from your goal, which you should clearly bring across, should the situation allow it. Crossing your arms – a gesture you should generally avoid during direct conversation – here becomes a sign that your pain threshold has been reached and that you won’t budge from your demands.
Whichever strategy you choose, it’s important that you don’t let your emotions get the best of you and that you always listen to your intuition on which signals are appropriate and helpful. Then, you’ll be able to strategically use body language to your advantage.
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