80% of communication is non-verbal, which means that a great interviewer needs to be able to extract information from non-verbal elements to be able to grasp the full essence of the interview. With that being said, what kind of information can we get from things that aren’t being said. For starter, non-verbal communication is really abstract, meaning that there isn’t a clear rule on how to fully understand non-verbal signals. In fact, the amount of non-verbal information one can perceive depend mostly on how well-informed the interviewer is about the interviewee. As such, the most important thing to do before an interview is research. As Jory Mackay said, “there a saying in news room that good interviews follow the two P’s: Persistence and Preparation”. For non-verbal communication, the second P is no doubt the more important element. By doing background research about the interviewee, the interviewer can better translate each movement and behavior and derive meanings from them. For example, if a question touches on a sensitive issue or a personal trauma of the interviewee, then this person will act in a perticular manner without actually saying it outloud. A good interviewer can pick up on these non-verbal cues and act accordingly. Each person will have a different reaction depending on his personnality. Learning about it before the interview can help the interviewer anticipate the type of non-verbal communication generated by the interviewee. Another good source of information for the interview comes from the work environment of the interviewee. The work space reflect the personnality and the type of work of a person. Photos and other items which directly tell a story about the interviewees are the most obviouse information source in a work space. However, more subtle details of the work environment can also tell quite a bit about a person. For example, an organized work space is a sign that a person is disciplined and rational. An empty work environment where you can find only the essential things for work can mean that the person is an introvert and reserved individual. By reading the personnality of the interviewee, the interviewer can modify the question in a way that is more well-received, since the way to ask questions change with each type of personnality.