It's all about 'body language', the vital messages you communicate through your appearance and the way you speak. If you get your body language wrong, your professional and personal life may suffer. But a steady gaze and a lovely smile will help convey the impression that you are everything an employer is looking for – confident, competent, committed and creative.

Non-verbal communication
If you are not already aware of how much information is sent and received by means of body language, try watching the telly with the sound turned down. It's amazing how much you can still understand!

A number of non-verbal signals can help or hinder your ability to communicate effectively:

Your facial expression – the shape of your mouth, the look in your eyes
The way you sit, stand or move
How close you sit or stand in relation to others
How you hold and move your hands, arms and legs.

This means that a job application or a bid for promotion may fail because, although your words are right, your body language may be conveying the wrong messages. For example, a pleasant greeting and a smile will indicate friendliness, while sighing or tapping your fingers will express boredom or irritation.

How body language can help your career
Many employers will consciously or unconsciously assess your non-verbal signals when trying to predict your performance in a particular job, so they are not simply judging your words during an interview or assessment - they will also be taking note of your body language.

To be sure of success, you will find it useful to introduce some of the following behaviours:

Holding yourself upright (but not poker-backed)
Maintaining eye contact (but not staring)
Nodding and smiling (but not when discussing something serious)
Leaning forward (but not too far)
Keeping gestures under control (avoid twiddling hair, scratching ears and shuffling feet).

Enhancing yourself
Think about your own behaviour over the past few weeks, especially in important meetings and job interviews. Have there been any occasions when you have failed to communicate effectively? On reflection, could your body language have been part of the problem?

The important point is that you can train yourself to use body language to enhance the impression you are trying to make. In time, you should find that people are more relaxed and respond more positively towards you.

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