Strong, confident communication is essential to succeed in any job, and a key skill most employers look for during an interview. For their 2016 Job Skills Report, Bloomberg asked 1,251 job recruiters at 547 companies about the skills they want but can’t find. Guess which skill topped the list across industries? Communication!
If you want to be more desirable to potential employers or first in line for a promotion, take a look at our four tips to ace the interview:
Keep It Clear:
Clear, confident speech is one of the most important factors in making a strong impression during an interview. Put extra effort into good pronunciation and clear speech, and maintain a slow, steady pace. If your interviewer can’t understand your responses, you may lose the job right then and there!
Hone Your Telephone Skills:
With such a large number of applicants, many companies use phone interviews as a cost-effective way to cut down applicants in the first round. Communicating over the phone can be even trickier than in-person communication—without the non-verbal cues that we rely on in face-to-face conversations, it can be difficult to effectively communicate your message. It’s especially important that you enunciate each syllable and pronounce each letter of every word, especially the consonants at the end of a word. Want more tips to excel on the phone?
Related: Succeed in 2018 With These 3 Communication Resolutions
Body Language:
It’s not just what you say, but how you say it. Your body language can have an enormous impact on how your potential employer perceives you. Maintain strong posture and eye contact to project confidence and professionalism. Also, don’t forget to smile. Smiling makes you seem approachable and friendly, characteristics that everyone wants in a coworker or employee.
Use Vocal Power To Exude Confidence:
A strong voice exudes confidence even when you’re not feeling particularly confident. Often people speak too quietly and hesitantly in the presence of authority figures. While you may think this sounds polite and deferent, it actually can make you appear unsure of yourself. Breathe from your abdomen (not your chest) to project your voice with a strong clear tone and appear more professional and confident.
If you’re looking for more ways to craft a strong, confident image that will help you to achieve your professional goals, make sure to pick up a free copy of my e-book “Communicate with Clarity and Confidence!” by subscribing to our newsletter community on our website. In this free resource, I break down the myriad factors that contribute to confident communication and guide you through how to use each aspect to your advantage.