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Why All Interviewees Should Train As Public Speakers

To Pass an Interview Train As a Public Speaker

In the job interview book “the 73 rules for influencing the interview” I talked and taught you how to increase your communication confidence and how to influence the interviewer using words. 

This mixture of persuading with confident communication is the desired skill that increases your chance of being offered a position. This skill can be developed through public speaking.

How many times have you been influenced or moved by a powerful orator? How has a charismatic speaker motivated you? How did confident communication get you to change your opinion?

Being able to persuade with words is the desired skill of any interviewee. These same techniques are being used right now by public speakers.

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Talk With Purpose 

When learning to public speak one of the first lessons you learn is to talk with purpose.

This is a lesson you need to take with you to the job interview. One of the biggest interview killers is the way an interviewee communicates. Often, due to nervousness, the interviewee talks without thought, they drone on and on about everything apart from the answer to the asked question.

When asked an interview question, first think to yourself “what skill, quality or experience do they want me to discuss with this interview question?” Remember to think back to the job spec

All job interview questions, even curved ball job interview questions, are asked to uncover specific desired criteria. By focusing in on these criteria you can speak with purpose, keeping your interview answer on point.

Create a Strong Structure 

It is easy to get lost in your own interview answer.

Have you ever found yourself asking the interviewer if you have answered their question? This is because we answer interview questions with no structure.

In public speaking you are taught to 1; state what you are going to say 2; say what you are going to say 3; summaries what you said

This is a great structure for getting your point across and keeping your interview answer short and on point. In the job interview, you can adopt this same (or a similar version) structure. Start by 1; saying you have desired criteria 2; give an example of desired criteria 3; summaries by stating that these criteria are your key strength

Interview questions and answers

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Use more than Just Words 

Great public speakers inspire, motivate and enthuse the audience not just with words, but also with their tone, body language, gestures, stage presence, stories, metaphors, rhetorical devices, facial expressions and the use of props (maybe a PowerPoint presentation)

Confident interviewees use these same well-tuned skills (that you can easily learn from an interview coach or by attending a public speaking group) A remember-able interviewee, the one who is offered the job, creates an emotional connection with the interviewer by communicating with all their senses, creating intrigue and using public speaking persuasion techniques.

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Job Interview Diction

With a job interview due in a couple of weeks, you have spent your time preparing and writing your well researched interview answers.

After answering each interview question, using prepared and well researched answers, you are surprised that you rarely revive job offers, why is this?

It doesn’t matter how much effort you put into your interview preparation, if the interviewer cant understand your point, communication or perspective, you will fail to win over any employer.

Professional interviewees practice their diction, tonality and the delivery power of their voice. This creates an a confident, persuasive and charming interview.

Job Interview Diction

With a well prepared interview, you may believe that your answers will go down well. But, unless the interviewer can clearly hear each word, your well prepared answers wont hit the mark.

These are 3 key reasons why audiences turn off when listening to a poorly delivered interview answer

  • Nervousness speaker, lacking in confidence – people mumble during the interview when feel emotionally stressed 
  • Talking to fast – with a lot top say in such a short period of time, the interviewee may rush to get the words out 
  • Poor diction – rushing words or not pronouncing words clearly can leave the interviewer thinking “What did they say?”  

   

How to Improve Diction Before a Job Interview

A great technique for improving your diction, to practice talking slower and to boost your confidence is to use Tongue Twisters.

Here is a famous example to use as a practice tool “I am the very pattern of a modern Major-General; I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral; I know the Kings of England, and I quote the fights historical, From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical; I’m very well acquainted too with matters mathematical, I understand equations, both simple and quadratical, About binomial theorem I’m teeming with a lot o’ news, With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. I’m very good at integral and differential calculus, I know the scientific names of beings animalculous, In short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General.”    

3 Steps to Improve Diction Prior to your Job Interview

Step 1 – Start by practicing your diction using tongue twisters before practicing the diction of your forthcoming job interview

Step 2 – Start by saying the tongue twister out loud slowly, ensure each word is said clearly and that each word is crisp at the word start and end.

Step 3 – Once the statement is communicated clearly, repeat the tongue twister faster and faster, repeating the paragraph if a word is not said cleanly.

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Why Serious Job Hunters Need To Attend Toastmasters

Will Toastmasters Help You Help Pass a Job Interview?

The hardest stage of job application process is the dreaded interview stage. The thought of having to sit through a 45 minute face to face question and answer session leaves many people wondering “is it worth it? I know my current manger is rude and obnoxious, and the pay is rubbish, but at least I don’t have to sit through 45 minutes of hell!”

The modern interview is worse. Not only do you still have to attend the traditional Q&A interview, you now have to complete pre-interview task, take part in group activities and deliver a presentation.

Who wins in interviews – the sector expert or the confident interviewee?

As an interview coach I meet thousands of professionals who are highly skilled and experience, but cannot seem to land that all important promotion or job offer. The fact is, the best person for the job is not always recruited, it’s often the confident interview expert, who lacks sector experience who is offered the desired position.

This can seem unfair to career professional, but the reality is, being excellent in your given job role isn’t enough. You have to be able to interview well, which means you need to be confident, know how to sell yourself and most importantly be a competent communicator.

Part of the advice I give to many of my interview clients is to join their local toastmaster group. When they looked surprised and asked why, I give them three key reasons.

Interview Table Topics.

A key part of interview preparation is predicting interview questions and preparing answers that highlight key attributes. But no matter how much preparation is completed you will always be asked at least one unexpected question. It’s these out the blue questions that throw the prepared interviewee off, creating confusion and a drop in confidence which leads to a lack of job offers.

Toastmaster meetings start each meeting with a round of table topics. This impromptu speaking gives members a key skill that can utilised in the job interview. No matter what question you are asked, the skilled table topic speaker can always create a cleaver and entertaining answer.

Preparing for Presentations.

As part of the process for many high paid positions and managerial roles, you will be asked to deliver a presentation often about yourself, an interview icebreaker.  For many public speaking is so terrifying that they will decline the offer to interview.

For those who give it go, their lack of experience and their lack of public speaking skills shines through like a grammarians nightmare, with every seconds word being an erm or an argh. The toastmaster member is king here, speaking is second nature. The interview doesn’t know what hit them, “ who is this guy who commands the attention of the audience, using vocal variety, gestures and eye contact.”

Confident Communicator.

The real reason highly employable candidates are declined positions is because they lack confidence. Nerves and anxiety kill your interview chances; you are seen as weak and unbelievable.

You need to communicate with confidence, to highlight your unique selling point and to describe your past successes with such style and charisma that the employer has no choice but to offer you the position. The competent communicator manual does just that, it gives you the skills to speak with confidence, not just on stage, or in a job interview but in everyday situations.

Why I Attend Toastmasters

For me Toastmasters is much more than a public speaking club. The skills you learn do improve your ability to share your message with style, but these same skills can be used in everyday situations. The confidence you build from learning these skills can be life changing, and in the job interview situation these skills can be the difference between a successful career and a dissatisfied job.

Chris Delaney is an interview coach and the author of The 73 Rules for Influencing the Interview using Psychology, NLP and Hypnotic Persuasion Techniques.