How talking about LinkedIn taught me about the power of practicing for interviews

Last week I delivered a presentation at the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Typical of all AICD functions, this was the A list of who’s who in business. A pretty impressive crowd – by anybody’s standards.

I really wanted my presentation to be smooth. Being at the end of what has been an incredibly wonderful year for me, I wanted it to be extraordinary.

So I practised.

I practised delivering my presentation into the mirror

I practised while I was washing dishes

And I practised answering questions while I was stuck in traffic. (I am sure I have disturbed the Lollypop Lady at my daughter’s school as I waited in my car at the pedestrian crossing – I’m hoping she thought I was talking on the phone!)

In between practising, I watched TED talks online, so I could observe how others deliver their message, and THEN I PRACTISED AGAIN. Sometimes this would result in some crossed wires as I’d take up the accent of the last TED speaker I’d listened to.

So I’m proud to say I can deliver this presentation fluently with a Scottish accent, a New Zealand accent and several different versions of the American accent.

I practised so constantly, that I finally achieved enough confidence to tell myself that if the technology fails (it did), or I forget my name (I didn’t) – at least my delivery will be smooth.

 Yes, I knew the value of practising my speech so I didn’t lose my place in my notes or stumble over tricky phrasing, but I didn’t realize that once the speech was second nature, I could relax and engage more deeply with my audience.

This made me wonder how many of us actually prepare and practise before an interview?

Sure, we might have a few questions to ask, and we might have a vague idea about what parts of our experience we should talk about the most - but how many of us read and memorise our résumé beforehand? Write out examples? Practise in front of the mirror? Make your Lollypop Lady smile sympathetically in your direction?

Probably not many of us.

We think we know our content, so we ad lib. We make it up, on the spot, unpractised.

DON’T.

In the course of 15 years in recruitment I averaged 22 interviews a week. That equates to at least 17,160 interviewees. And I can tell you, nothing diminishes a seemingly-solid ‘shoe-in’, than an interviewee who stumbles over what should be a standard response. It doesn’t matter if the candidate has the experience and expertise for the role, if they can’t succinctly explain the nature of their role during the interview, I doubt the person and I question their experience.

Your interview will proceed more smoothly if you have a few key nuggets of information phrased in advance and memorised. Look at it this way – when the interviewer asks you about salary, you want to get your response exactly right.

So how do you practise? Before an interview, copy a list of the key words from the job advert matched with examples from your résumé. Write down one or two sentences summarising your preferred terms of employment. Make a list of three or four essential questions (not too many, so you can keep count and check that you asked them all), then memorise the details.

Practise presenting each nugget by interviewing your rear-view mirror in the traffic, or confiding in the saucepan while you’re stirring spaghetti. Eventually with plenty of practise, you will have these key phrases clearly memorised and ready to deliver at the right point of the interview.

Best of all, while you are in the interview, you won’t waste energy thinking through your answers before speaking. You can relax with the confidence of knowing that your content will come out of your mouth smoothly. (And hopefully without an assumed accent.)

When you know your content you can focus 100% on engaging with your audience. You can focus on listening to understand, not listening to reply.

Remember, the interview is not just an opportunity to talk about how experienced you are – it is also an opportunity to engage. Connect authentically, and you will build meaningful relationships that you can include in your network -- You may even find yourself with an outrageously generous job offer!

Every meeting you attend is an investment in your own future, so it is worth investing some time and dedication to ensure your delivery is smooth and polished.

Don’t leave it to chance.

Practise. Engage.

Written by Karen Tisdell - Résumé & LinkedIn Profile Writer

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