Here's how you can enhance your public speaking abilities in interviews through body language.

Opening up your chest allows for you to take more air into your lungs & feel calmer & speak more coherently. To open your chest ensure your elbows are not touching your ribcage - allow about one fist width gap between your elbows and your sides to do this in a natural & comfortable way. I learned this from YouTube and there are many science backed, physiological ways to ensure your posture makes you feel comfortable and confident.

Amplifying your public speaking, whether virtual or in-person, hinges on how you use body language to truly connect. With today’s shift back into shared spaces, purposeful connection is paramount. When face-to-face, maintaining direct eye contact and an open posture can exude confidence and make conversations feel natural and engaging. In virtual settings, eye contact with the camera and keeping gestures within frame helps convey your message clearly and resonates more powerfully. A genuine smile and intentional deep breaths can keep you both composed and fully present. Subtle nods or acknowledgments signal you’re tuned in, whether across a screen or across the table, grounding your presence in the moment.

Why is body language important in delivering a public speech? A speaker who gives off negative body language signals during their speech (turning their back to the audience or standing slouched), will be less likely to engage their audience and encourage them to listen to what they have to say. This might sound harsh, but this is just how our human brains think.

To enhance your public speaking abilities in interviews through body language, particularly with hand gestures, focus on using intentional and confident movements that complement your verbal messages. Gestures can emphasize key points, making your ideas more memorable; for instance, using open palms conveys honesty and invites connection, while specific movements can illustrate your achievements or the scope of your experience. Practice maintaining a relaxed posture and using gestures that feel natural, avoiding over-exaggeration or fidgeting. Ensure your gestures align with your speech rhythm, allowing for a cohesive and engaging delivery that captures the interviewer’s attention and reinforces your confidence and authenticity.

Don’t worry about doing anything specific with your hands as it can be overwhelming. Try to keep your arms slightly off the sides of your body (so that you are taking up slightly more space, and so that you don’t have pressure on your ribcage which will allow you to breath easier and look more confident). Use your hands to highlight key points, such as pointing to data on graphs to explain them, or counting your points out on your hand as you speak. Otherwise if its more natural for you to keep your hands by your sides whilst speaking, don’t force yourself to make hand gestures - keep it natural.

La comunicación no verbal es gran parte del mensaje en una entrevista. La postura, los movimientos de las manos, las expresiones faciales o la sonrisa, juegan un papel fundamental que nos puede hacer transmitir confianza, credibilidad y autoridad o perderla. Uno de los aspectos esenciales es el contacto visual. Debemos mantener un contacto visual amable con nuestro/a entrevistador/a, de manera que nos ayude a conectar y transmitirle confianza y credibilidad. Hay que evitar ser demasiado intimidante, por lo que, es recomendable alternar la mirada a los ojos del/la entrevistador/a con miradas a sus manos o miradas al entorno. Importante: el contacto visual es una parte de la comunicación no verbal, conviene no descuidar las demás.

Posture globale élancée et ouverte à laquelle on associe un regard soutenu bien veillant. Il ne faut pas vouloir, par ailleurs supprimer tous les petits gestes, plus ou moins conscients, qui fondent notre apparence au Monde depuis toujours : C' est aussi nous, avec une communication infra verbale qui touchera et apportera de la sincérité à nos propos

It can be distracting to try to make eye contact with each person in the room, so I recommend (especially with large audiences) picking 3 areas of the room to look at and looking just above people’s heads (rather than making direct eye contact) if that is more comfortable for you.

Why do LinkedIn profiles with photos get more than 10x the views than those without? Because we look for faces when seeking to understand WHO someone is. Here's how to make sure the WHO your interviewer see is exactly WHO you want it to be: VIDEO YOURSELF ANSWERING PREP QUESTIONS. Is this fun? Probably not, but running probably isn't fun either until you realize you're in a marathon in a week. Acknowledge this will be hard, and then do it anyway. Here's the great news: it doesn't matter what your answers are here because I want you to watch your answers... on mute. How do you feel about the person speaking? Take notes of times and rewatch off mute. Did you cringe? Look away a lot? Touch your face? Observe, practice, win, repeat.

Presentations and public speaking are about telling a story, so as actors/actresses would do, ensure you convey the emotions that your speech is trying to arouse, in a slightly elevated way. You’re not speaking to someone 1-1 so you want to heighten your emotions slightly, so its easy for the listeners/viewers to recognise that emotion. The same way theatre actors would wear heavier makeup on stage than someone would day-to-day, try to replicate that intensity with your facial expressions, as on stage they will come across less intensely than they would in a 1-2 conversation.

One thing I found useful was attending public speaking groups or classes which were hosted by volunteers in my local community. That helped me get over the nerves of speaking to strangers, and get clear feedback from others who were also on the same learning curve as me.