What Impression Are You Making at the Board Room Table?

What you're saying in a meeting might not be speaking as loudly as your non-verbal communication.

Listed below are seven common non-verbal signs that young professionals, especially women, make at a board room table:

• Tilting your head--a sign of listening that can be misinterpreted as one of submission or even flirting.
• Folding your hands on your lap--hiding your hands under a conference table or desk, for example, signals untrustworthiness; a cue from ancient times, when men would reveal their palms to show they were unarmed.
• Crossing your legs--a sign of resistance.
• Excessive smiling--an indication that you lack gravitas and seriousness.
• Folding your arms in front of you--translates to insecurity or defensiveness.
• Playing with or tugging at your hair, jewelry or clothes--can signal distress or, again, be misinterpreted as flirting.
• "At a boardroom table, women tend to pile all their materials neatly and sit tucked into the table, while men tend to sprawl out, push away from the table, cross his ankle over a knee and lock arms behind his head. It was impressed upon us that the concept of taking up space correlates to the concept of dominance." The result? "I've never sat tucked into a table since."

Company leaders agree that they value the employees who can communicate most effectively. What is your non-verbal body language saying about you at a board room table? Click here to read the full article by Forbes.com.

As advice for all young professionals, male or female, research shows that it takes four minutes to make a first impression, and, according to a widely cited study by UCLA professor Albert Mehrabian, body language accounts for 55% of that impression (38% comes from tone of voice; the remaining 7% from our actual words).

Changing how you carry yourself allows you to communicate those thoughts and feelings more fully.
We could all use that at a board room table.