Working Knowledge A Monthly Column about Life on the Job

By Elisa F. Topper American Libraries Columnist Elisa F. Topper is director of the Dundee Township (Ill.) Public Library District and a career consultant. Contact her at working@ala.org. Column for September 2004

It's Not What You Say, but How You Say It

I feel I have a good handle on how to present myself on paper and land job interviews, yet I still don't get job offers. While interviewing isn't my best skill, I think I adequately make the points I need to make. How can I know if I'm somehow sending the wrong signals during the interview?

Looks Better on Paper

While there may be an explanation unrelated to your interview performance for why you haven't received a job offer—an internal candidate got the position, for example—it is always useful to take an objective look at yourself. We spend so much time on the cover letter, résumé, and what we're going to say during an interview that we often overlook the message we unconsciously relay to others.
Some experts say nonverbal cues are in fact more important than verbal ones: While verbal content only makes up 7% of a message, body language accounts for 55%, and paralanguage—intonation, pauses, and sighs—represents the remaining 38%.
“We all think we're communicating because words are coming out of our mouths,” Linda Wallace of Library Communication Strategies (www.librarycomm.com) told American Libraries. “But what people see—whether your arms are crossed, where your eyes are looking—influences what they hear and whether they believe you.”
The necessity of coming across as open, positive, and believable, she adds, “applies to a variety of situations, whether it's talking with a reporter; presenting to a group; answering questions from library users, your staff, or boss; or a job interview.”
Communications consultant Susan Silk agrees that “it is critically important for library professionals who deal with the public to remember that perception is more than half the battle.”
Librarians must remember they are in the people business, not the book business, adds media trainer Dave Baum, who points to two key aspects of nonverbal communication: the “likebility or approachability factor”—the impression you make during the first 10-15 seconds of contact—and the ability to truly listen, which, unfortunately, most people don't do very well.
While most of us know the basics of body language—eye contact shows you're listening, folded arms reveal rejection—the best way to improve your nonverbal communication skills is by practicing. And if you really want to gain a competitive edge in interviews and in your library career in general, I'd strongly recommend media training. Although it's quite common in the business world, media training isn't only for high-level executives or communications directors; it can help those in the library profession to present themselves—and their library's services—better.
Where can you get media training or similar instruction? “Almost any public relations/media agency should be able to recommend someone,” says Wallace, who also suggests asking speakers you admire if they have had training and where. Local library systems or state library associations may offer training through conferences or continuing-education programs-and if they don't, suggest that they do. Representatives from these organizations may also be able to recommend experienced trainers in your area.
Wallace advises making clear to the trainer what types of situations you are most concerned with, whether it's dealing with the media, presentations to VIPs or community groups, or handling difficult questions. “Be prepared for an interactive experience,” she says. “This isn't something you learn from a book or hearing a lecture. It's about putting yourself out there.”

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Resources

• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Body Language by Peter A. Andersen (Alpha Books, 2004).
  
• Controlling the Confrontation: Arch Lustberg on Effective Communication Techniques (Library Video Network, 1989). Available at www.lvn.org/catalog.htm.
  
• Nonverbal Communication in the Workplace by Patrick W. Miller (Miller and Associates, 2000).
  

(c) Copyright 2004 American Library Association