Practice Public Speaking to Prepare for Interviews

You’ve landed the interview, you’re stoked, and let’s be honest, a little terrified.   Not to worry, there are ways to prepare that should turn your interview into a conversation, rather than an interrogation.

 

1 – Know Who You Are:  The person interviewing you is likely to say “ Tell me about yourself.”  Prepare to tell them about who you are as a person, your interests, but also think back to why you applied for the job.  Explain who you are, emphasizing the things about you that make you an ideal for the position.

 

2 – Keep it positive:  There are a lot of tasks you may be great at but are less than enthused to do.  It is important to find a way to communicate the positive result.  Convey what you were able to take away from that task and how it helped you grow as a professional.

 

3 – Don’t read from your resume:  Practice at home turning all of the bullet points on your resume into something smooth and coherent that you can actually picture yourself saying.

 

4 – Keep it short and to the point.  Chances are the interviewer has other people to interview that day, so don’t waste their time by rambling.    If five words will answer the question, then why use 25?

 

5 – Unless you are interviewing for something that requires you to work alone, you’re going to be working as a team.  Use “we” language to show how you can work with others.  Don’t feel like you can’t highlight your personal accomplishments, after all you are the one in the interview, not your team, but be sure to pivot back to how your work helped carry the team across the finish line.