You know your stuff. You’re ready for the next step in your professional life. Now you just need to (ominous music plays) nail the interview.
On paper it’s easy, you’re just answering questions that you know the answer to. But in reality we all know there’s more to it. Some people freeze up from unexpected nerves. Others think they do great interviews but never get a followup call. And some folks are just…fine. These people may not be showing themselves off to the best advantage, but you can!
Body language
You will make a strong visual impression the second you are seen. You are in control of what that looks like.
Posture is a journey, not a destination. That means we can’t find the perfect body position and lock it in. That would make us rigid. You want to sit in such a way that your spine is relatively straight, your shoulders are open (down and back), and you look comfortable and natural. Ideally you also feel comfortable and natural, but sometimes we have to fake it til we make it. You might just have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Feeling the floor with your feet is helpful for grounding. We can sort of leave our body during interviews, and sitting with your feet flat on the floor can help you ground. This can help you become more calm, present, and focused. If you’re more comfortable with legs crossed, be aware of leaning or slumping.
Eye contact can be tricky. We definitely want it, but obviously not to the point of weirdly staring at someone. When we speak, we tend to move our eyes around a bit, moving from the listener to maybe a water glass you pick up, to perhaps notes, or even just into space as you think. And in between these we return, for the majority of the time, to the listeners. Connect to them so it’s clear you are speaking to them, not just talking into the void. Make sure they are following you and engaged.
I am including “voice” under body language because speaking is a physical act. Tension and misalignment make a voice less resonant and rich by unplugging nature’s amplifier. Good alignment helps your voice too. You want to sound strong and confident without appearing to push, and without pitch dropping too high or too low for clarity and resonance.
Of course, some people need assistance to find the part of their real voice that they like — my post Three tips for a more powerful voice goes into some more detail.
Breathing
Are you holding your breath right now? It’s more common than you might think. It is especially common if we are nervous or tense. And interviews usually bring up nerves, even in the most seasoned speaker.
Breathing deeply and easily can enhance the quality of your voice. The voice is a wind instrument and we power it with out breath. So inadequate breath can lead to a voice that sounds quiet or tight or wimpy or high-pitched or raspy or… you get the idea. Generally not confident. My post “Talking from the diaphragm” is BS goes into some more detail about accessing your natural, free breath.
Breathing freely also helps with grounding, presence, and genuine confidence. And most importantly, it connects you to your most authentic self. What’s more “you” than your breath? And showing your authentic self with poise and confidence is one of the major objectives of an interview.
Don’t be afraid of a pause
Take a beat to process the question, take a breath, and allow a moment to pass before you feel compelled to jump in with an answer. You might even use a phrase like, “Let me think about that for a second” while you gather your thoughts. These options can prevent rambling, repeating, or using a bunch of “ums” and other filler words.
Remote interviews can make some folks feel more comfortable, while others find them more challenging. My post Why your virtual presentations are worse than in-person has more information about the role of the listener in your success.
Rehearse. Out loud.
Certain questions are likely to come up, such as “Tell us about yourself”. This is your chance to curate how they see you, so spend some time deciding how you’d like to present yourself in the given context. Then practice saying it out loud.
I cannot stress enough the importance of practicing your answers out loud. You will discover why as you do it, but the spoiler is that it tends to smooth out glitches and highlight content you want to make sure you get in there. It also shows you where some lines of thought could end up with you talking yourself into a corner.
At the same time, you don’t want to practice so much it gets stale. You aren’t trying to memorize answers verbatim. Three or four times is probably enough for most people, but trust your instincts.
Be prepared
This article focuses primarily on preparing for the execution of the interview, but because all preparation is key to confidence, I’ll add a word about other types of preparation.
Your prep includes things like researching the company, clarifying how your skills match their job description, coming up with a question or two for them to show interest, and getting some stories about yourself ready to drop in when the moment arises. You can look up common interview questions and practice answering them (out loud!) as well.
Show up
Yes, of course one must literally show up, but I mean this figuratively. Be present. Let as much of this preparatory work go as possible, so you can focus on the people you’re talking to and the message you want to deliver. Find reasons to smile, or otherwise be genuine. Allow the best of you to shine through.
If you’d like some personalized guidance on showing up optimally in an interview, reach out for a session.
