"Anticipate. Tell a story. Be enthusiastic." These are the essentials Buckley Faculty Katie Pope emphasizes when she's teaching the secret to successful interviews. Katie leads our programs in interview skills for young professionals and coaches clients one on one.
"Over the years, I've conducted interview training from both angles," she says, "the interviewer and the interviewee. More than ever, I see similarities between interviewing and public speaking."
Here's how Katie's three essentials can help you be more successful at both:
1. Anticipate.
"When interviewing, a candidate must prepare for questions she or he may be asked," Katie says. The process is straightforward: Brainstorm possible questions. Think through and practice your answers. "For speakers, the benefits of anticipating are huge. What questions will be in the minds of listeners? How can they be addressed proactively in the presentation?"
2. Tell a story.
"I coach interviewees to develop brief, descriptive narratives to show what their accomplishments look like and how they've put those good qualities they want to project into action," says Katie. "Likewise, a speaker can really benefit from developing a story to illustrate a point. A story can make data memorable or make a process easier to apply. You can show a customer what a quality--such as good customer service--looks like when your company puts it into practice."
3. Be enthusiastic.
"Rev up your engine," Katie says. "You should always be yourself but when interviewing or presenting, you should be your best self--energetic, enthusiastic, engaging." Interviewers, like audiences, don't just listen to what the person is saying. They read cues from the speaker and make decisions about the speaker from nonverbal communication. "One thing you want them to read is that you're glad to be there," says Katie.
