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How to Present Yourself
Welcome to part two of our three-part blog series on preparing for a video interview. In this segment I am going to provide some guidelines on how to present yourself during a video interview.
Video interviews are sometimes conducted standing up and sometimes sitting down. If it is a sit down interview it is important to sit forward in your chair. Leaning back will give you the appearance of not being fully engaged and can make you appear complacent or even arrogant. When I interview people on camera I often have both the interviewer and interviewee sit on stools. A stool forces you to sit forward, sit up straight, and to exercise better posture. You want to appear engaged with the interviewer so sitting forward and straight up will make you look more professional, more engaged and more credible.
When sitting on a chair or stool it is also very important not to swivel. Usually the director will choose a chair that does not swivel but in some workplaces they can be hard to find. Plant your feet firmly on the ground and make a conscious effort to hold your body still. Since the camera has a limited field of view, even small side-to-side movements make you appear like you are moving and will create a distraction.
In a standing interview the thing to avoid is shifting your weight from side-to-side. This has the same effect as swiveling in a chair. When standing for any length of time it can be hard not to shift your weight so a technique to use is to angle yourself toward the camera and place one foot pointing to the camera and one foot behind the other, positioned perpendicular. In this position, if you shift your weight you will be moving forward and back which won’t be nearly as obvious to the camera. Angling yourself to the camera will also make you look better. Think about the before and after photos they use on a weight loss ad. When you stand square to the camera you take up more space and look larger and less flattering.
Whether you are sitting or standing, hold your chin slightly down. When you hold your chin up it accentuates your neck and forces you to look down your nose at the camera. Hold your chin slightly downward, forces your eyes open, and is more flattering.
In summary if you can follow these three tips, you will come across much better in a video interview:
- Sit up and use good posture
- Angle yourself toward the camera
- Don’t sway or swivel
Our next segment in this blog series on preparing for an interview will provide you with some good tips on responding to questions. Thanks for reading and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or subscribe to our RSS Feed
