Before the day of your interview, make sure set aside some time to practice with a friend or partner, and go through your answers to the kinds of questions your interviews will be most likely to send your way. Prepare a statement that explains why you’re interested in this job, what you have to offer that no other candidate can claim, and where you’d like to take your career in the years ahead.

But as you practice, keep in mind that your non-verbal gestures will also send a message to your interviewers, a message that may have an even greater impact than your words. Here are a few moves and tips to consider as you prepare for your moment in the spotlight.

1. One of your strongest non-verbal messages will come not from your eyes and face, but from your body line, or the general angle of your spine. Before your interview, practice sitting and standing with your back aligned—not straight, but aligned. Imagine a string connecting the crown of your head to the ceiling. When this string is pulled tight, your chin will rise, your shoulders will move back and down, and your general expression will be one of relaxed confidence, not tension, fear, or over-eagerness.

2. When you sit in a chair, allow your body to take over the entire chair. You own this chair as long as you’re sitting in it. See what this feels like. Be comfortable, and you will present yourself well.

3. Humans speak with their hands and arms almost as much as they do with their voices, but this part of our language often goes unacknowledged. Don’t let your mouth say one thing (I’m right for this job!) while your hands say another (I’m scared of you!). Raise your hands when you speak in order to emphasize your points, but when you aren’t speaking, let them rest at your sides with relaxed open palms. Don’t clutch, grasp, fiddle, hide your face, or hug yourself.

4. Don’t touch your hair or your nose.

5. Keep your eyes up and leveled in the general direction of the interviewer’s face, but there’s no need to stare into her eyes like a hungry cobra. Every few beats, glance down at her hands or into the middle distance between you.

6. Smile often. Smile when you greet your interviewer, smile if he makes a joke (you don’t have to laugh), and smile as you say goodbye. Make sure you smile with your entire face, not just your mouth.

For tips and mock interview scripts that can help you practice these moves, and for more on how to send the right message with your body, not just your words, reach out to the staffing and job search pros at Expert.