When the interviewer asks you to tell him or her about yourself, simply finish this sentence: “I’m kind of like a…”, then pick a specific image of an object, person or animal that represents you and explain why. For instance, you could say, “I’m kind of like a band leader—I coordinate all the musicians and make sure everyone is playing at their very best” or “I’m kind of like a pit bull—I’m loyal, steadfast and work till I get the job done.” “Creating a vivid image engages the interviewer’s senses and emotions, which makes you automatically more memorable than a job applicant who just talks about facts and figures,” says Nicholas Boothman, author of Convince Them In 90 Second or Less.
[photo: StephPowell]
Want to wow family and friends even more with your homemade lemonade, smoothies and milkshakes? Serve these drinks in a glass or mug rather than a plastic or paper cup. Sounds strange, but in a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, participants were convinced that beverages served to them in sturdy cups tasted better than those served in a flimsy cups—even though the beverages were the same. Why the difference? Our perception of how good or bad drinks taste is affected by how sturdy the container is—the firmer it is, the more we like what we’re drinking.
Want your kids, spouse or co-worker to lend a helping hand? They’re more likely to pitch in if they see someone else being kind first—even if it’s on TV. In fact, the journal Psychological Science reports that volunteers who watched a segment of The Oprah Winfrey Show where musicians thanked their mentors spent twice as more time helping a research assistant afterward as those who viewed funny TV clips. The link? Seeing someone else do a selfless act creates the kind of warm and fuzzy feeling that makes us want act selflessly, too.
Frustrated when friends and family don’t heed your wise words even though you know it will save them time, money and aggravation? The problem may be the way you’re delivering your advice. According to a new study in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, most folks tune out when you offer your opinion for or against a particular option because they feel like you’re making the decision for them. Yet, they’re all ears when you provide information about aspects of their options they may not have known about—for instance, that an appliance they’re considering purchasing is on sale at a nearby store or that a friend had a bad experience with a mechanic they were thinking of taking their car to. By sharing new facts, others still feel like they’re in control of making their decision, plus the extra information you give them makes them more confident about their choice.
Think that if you lost your wallet you’d never see it again? Surprise—you’re likely to get it returned to you if you’ve got photos of smiling babies in it. The proof: When researchers from the UK’s University 
Explaining how a clock works to your child? Proposing a new project to your boss? Or giving details to anyone else? Try using related gestures—for instance rotating your hands in circles like clock gears or drawing a slope in the air to indicate profits. In a recent study, volunteers caught on to new concepts more quickly when the talker used lots of hand movements that helped illustrate the ideas than when the same instructions were given with non-matching hand gestures, such as pointing or waving, reports the journal Association for Psychological Science.
Quick—which do you think would make folks want to be closer to you:
Wonder why someone did something nice for you—for instance, a neighbor bringing over flowers from her garden or a stranger giving you $2 you were short at the cash register? It may be because you did something nice for someone first. That’s the news from researchers out of Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, whose recent study shows that when you do a good deed for someone else, it inspires that person to do a good deed for three more people, and those people to do good deeds for three people they know and so on. As a result, you start a chain reaction that makes dozens of folks in your neighborhood, school and work become more generous and giving!
Want to land a job? Start a new business? Find romance? You can boost your luck in finding these and more by simply introducing yourself to new folks at pot luck dinners, P.T.A. meetings, St. Patty’s Day parties and other social events. Ten years of luck studies prove that the luckiest folks around are those who know lots of people, says psychologist Richard Wiseman, Ph.D., author of The Luck Factor. The reason? Word of mouth is by far the best way to find out about great opportunities you would have otherwise missed, he explains.
Want to help your children get better grades? On days they have exams, try packing a greeting card in their backpack with a message that includes the letter ”A”, as in “I know you’ll do your best to get an A!” or “You’ll always be an ‘A’ in my book!” Then, tell your kid to open the card right before she or he takes the test. In a recent series of experiments reported in the British Journal of Educational Psychology, students who saw the letter “A” before exams scored about 10% to 25% better than those who saw the letter “F”. 
If you’re a woman, wiggle as you walk and if you’re a man, channel a John Wayne-like shoulder swagger. According to studies from a research team out of Texas A&M University and New York University, women who sway their hips as they walk are perceived as 50% more attractive and men who sway their shoulders as they walk are perceived as more than twice as attractive as those who tread with less motion. Researchers chalk it up to an evolutionary quirk that makes us use body cues to help decipher gender: extra movement in the hips makes us look more feminine and more movement in the shoulders makes us appear more masculine.