When you shoot people, do not tell them how to pose, or that you are posing them. Tell them you are positioning them, or ask them to position themselves in a certain way.
You get more natural poses that way!
And if the pose is more traditional, you can rotate, and even show the background, to add some life:
I couldn`t agree more. Sometimes just a little diference like “position” over “pose” can make more realistic, mora natural photo.