Ch 6. Storytelling

Interview Success: Making Yourself Memorable

1. Say it so they get it. Say it so they remember it. Say it so they want it.

   • Simple phrase to guide your interview strategy
   • Ensures clarity, memorability, and desirability in your responses

2. Make Yourself Sticky:

   • Focus on making your comments memorable and impactful

3. Six Key Qualities of “Sticky Ideas”:

   • Simple: Keep your answers concise and to the point
   • Unexpected: Capture attention with surprising elements
   • Concrete: Use specific details and examples
   • Credible: Provide believable and trustworthy information
   • Emotional: Connect with the interviewer on an emotional level
   • Story-Like: Present your answers in a narrative format

4. Techniques for Memorable Interviews:

   • Keep It Short and Simple:

     • Avoid superfluous information
     • Ensure your key points are easy to remember

   • Capture and Keep Their Attention:

     • Use engaging and unexpected elements
     • Maintain the interviewer’s focus

   • Talk in Their Lingo:

     • Use language and terminology familiar to the interviewer
     • Ensure clarity and understanding

   • Make Them Believe You:

     • Provide concrete details and examples
     • Establish credibility and trust

   • Get Them to Care:

     • Highlight benefits to both the individual interviewer and the company
     • Create an emotional connection

   • Get Them to Act:

     • Engage the interviewer and prompt them to support your candidacy
     • Encourage active participation and advocacy on your behalf

Focus on How You Say It

• Teach yourself to articulate your thoughts effectively
• Ensure your communication is clear, memorable, and persuasive

Keep It Short and Simple

• Essence of Brevity:

  • Antoine de Saint Exupéry: “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
  • Aim for clean, thorough answers without unnecessary information.

• Impact of Unnecessary Information:

  • Forces the interviewer to sift through your response for key points.
  • Makes it harder for the interviewer to retain important information.
  • Risks making you seem verbose and exhausting the interviewer.

• Balanced Communication:

  • Avoid being overly brief; ensure the interviewer gets a complete picture of you.
  • Present information in digestible pieces, allowing the interviewer to request more details if needed.

Guidelines for Concise Responses:

1. Highlight Necessary Information:

   • Focus on what the interviewer is seeking.
   • Avoid tangential or irrelevant details.

2. Structure Your Answer:

   • Break down your response into clear, concise segments.
   • Allow the interviewer to ask for further elaboration.

3. Practice Brevity:

   • Develop a habit of concise communication.
   • Ensure clarity and precision in your answers.

4. Monitor Feedback:

   • Pay attention to the interviewer’s reactions.
   • Adjust your response length based on their engagement and interest.

Benefits of Keeping It Short and Simple:

• Enhances clarity and retention of your key points.
• Prevents information overload for the interviewer.
• Projects confidence and competence in your communication skills.

Capture and Keep Their Attention

• Unexpectedness:

  • Surpassing expectations and being counterintuitive
  • Surprise elements create interest and curiosity

• Attention Challenges:

  • Interviewers often distracted by other commitments and interruptions
  • You need to attract their attention, not force it

• Pattern Breaking:

  • Eliminate predictability to grab attention
  • Breaking the chain of thought and then fixing it captures attention
  • Example: Speaking Swahili suddenly would be immediately noticeable

• Maintaining Curiosity:

  • Once you have attention, keep it by sustaining curiosity

• Techniques to Capture Attention:

  1. Doing It First:

     • Be a pioneer with unique information
     • Example: “As I was designing the system, I used a technique that had never been implemented before. I’ll share it with you now to get your thoughts.”
     • Keeps attention because they anticipate learning something new

  2. Doing It Wrong:

     • Highlight mistakes and learning experiences
     • Example: “I realized as I was designing the solution that I was about to make a grave mistake. At first, I was going to… then I realized… and then discovered the best technique would be to… This taught me so much about these new technologies.”
     • Focuses on your discovery and growth, maintaining interest

  3. Confirming Their Guess:

     • Validate their expectations with a twist
     • Example: “So I was designing the solution with the usual hardware and software including… you might be thinking it would yield these results. I did too. But then I checked these other angles to ensure it would work properly. Fortunately, in the end, it did produce the results you and I anticipated.”
     • Keeps the interviewer alert with subtle surprises

Talk in Their Lingo

• Tailor Your Communication:

  • Use expressions and terms familiar to your audience
  • Adjust responses to ensure understanding and retention

• Understand Interviewer Context:

  • Interviewers may be untrained, assessing cultural fit, or evaluating various aspects
  • They might not understand your technical capabilities fully

• Common Communication Challenge:

  • People often forget what it’s like not to know what they know
  • Example: A trainer using technical jargon that is difficult for a client to understand

Strategies for Effective Communication:

1. Think from the Interviewer’s Perspective:

   • Consider their level of knowledge and experience
   • Do reconnaissance on the interviewer using LinkedIn or other resources

2. Adjust Your Language:

   • Ask about the appropriate level of information
   • Pay attention to the depth and content of their questions
   • Look for non-verbal cues like squinted faces or lack of eye contact

3. Make Your Responses Visual and Relatable:

   • Use specific nomenclature and analogies that help the interviewer visualize what you’re describing
   • Aim to find a common denominator for effective communication

Practical Tips:

• For HR Questions:

  • Answer with broader, role-related information
  • Example: “I am looking for a role that allows me to leverage my project management skills and grow within the company.”

• For Technical Questions:

  • Provide detailed, technical responses
  • Example: “In designing the software, I implemented a microservices architecture to ensure scalability and flexibility.”

• Monitor Feedback:

  • Adjust your language based on the interviewer’s reactions
  • Simplify or elaborate as needed to ensure clarity

Make Them Believe You

• Believability Through Sincerity and Experience:

  • Telling believable stories demonstrates sincerity and experience.
  • Genuine details of your experiences help establish credibility.
  • Humans can detect dishonesty, so being genuine is crucial.

• Techniques to Enhance Believability:

  1. External Authority:

     • References or referrals from trusted sources validate your experience.
     • Formal and informal reference checks can support your credibility.
     • While helpful, this method is beyond your direct control.

  2. Internal Credibility:

     • Provide detailed, specific information about your experiences.
     • Use precise statistics to support your claims.
     • Share step-by-step processes and relevant details to illustrate your involvement and expertise.

• Details and Statistics:

  • Avoid verbosity; focus on key details that matter to the situation.
  • Example: Instead of saying “I exceeded my sales quota by about 25%,” say “I had a $1 million quota and exceeded it by $257,000.”
  • Precise statistics are more believable and memorable.

• Practical Tips:

  1. Prepare Specific Stories:

     • Think of specific projects, challenges, and successes you’ve experienced.
     • Prepare to explain these experiences in detail during the interview.

  2. Highlight Relevant Details:

     • Focus on aspects of your stories that directly relate to the job you’re applying for.
     • Share the steps you took, challenges you faced, and outcomes achieved.

  3. Use Concrete Numbers:

     • Use exact figures and timeframes to make your achievements more credible.
     • Example: “I led a project that took 14 weeks to complete” instead of “It took about a quarter of a year.”

Get Them to Care

• Challenges in Getting the Interviewer to Care:

  • Interviewer’s attention may be divided due to a busy schedule.
  • Most people operate with self-interests in mind.

• Strategy for Engagement:

  • Show how hiring you benefits the interviewer personally.
  • Highlight direct impacts on the interviewer’s workload and goals.

Tactical Approaches Based on Interviewer’s Position:

1. Interviewing with a Superior:

   • Emphasize how your skills can relieve some of their daily duties.
   • Highlight your ability to take on tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic areas.

2. Interviewing with a Peer:

   • Showcase how you can be a valuable resource for sharing ideas.
   • Mention your complementary skills and how you can cross-train each other.

3. Interviewing with a Subordinate:

   • Highlight your willingness to mentor and teach.
   • Emphasize opportunities for their growth and development.

Incorporating the Strategy into Common Interview Questions:

• “Why should we hire you as opposed to someone else?”

  • “I bring unique skills that can directly support your strategic goals and alleviate some of your daily responsibilities.”

• “What unique value do you bring to the organization?”

  • “My experience in [specific area] can streamline processes, freeing up your time for more critical tasks.”

• “Can you provide examples of how you are a team player?”

  • “I have a history of collaborating effectively, which would allow us to support each other’s projects and share expertise.”

• “How would your team members describe you?”

  • “They would say I am supportive and resourceful, always willing to help and mentor.”

Effective Question to Ask the Interviewer:

• “If you were to present me with a job offer and I was to accept, what would be the first activity or project I could do to make your life easier?”
  • This question personalizes the connection and shows your focus on benefiting the interviewer directly.

Get Them to Act

• Ultimate Goal:

  • Secure the next interview or a job offer.
  • Stay focused on selling yourself accurately.

• Building Blocks for Success:

  • Each response and question should build goodwill.
  • Aim to keep the process moving forward without being eliminated prematurely.

• Addressing Outstanding Questions:

  • If you reach the end of the process and still have questions, you can continue asking until you have a complete picture.
  • Ensure you have all necessary information before making a final decision.

• Positive Review and Encouragement:

  • The goal is for the interviewer to give a positive review and recommend you for the position.
  • Connect how hiring you benefits the interviewer personally.

• Generating Action:

  • People exert energy for those they like and feel emotionally positive about.
  • Build goodwill from the moment the interview starts.

Steps to Ensure a Positive Reaction:

1. Preparation:

   • Arrive on time, well-prepared, and looking put together.
   • Show respect for the interviewer’s time and position.

2. Engagement:

   • Build rapport and create a positive connection.
   • Share compelling stories that highlight your qualifications and experiences.

3. Highlight Benefits:

   • Clearly explain how hiring you benefits the interviewer personally.
   • Tailor your responses to address the interviewer’s specific needs and concerns.

4. Emotional Connection:

   • People act when they feel emotionally positive about someone.
   • Ensure your interactions evoke positive emotions.

Practical Tips:

• Sell Yourself Accurately:

  • Be honest and genuine in your responses.
  • Focus on your strengths and how they align with the job requirements.

• Ask Thoughtful Questions:

  • Prepare questions that show your interest in the role and the company.
  • Use these questions to further build rapport and demonstrate your suitability.

• Create a Positive Impression:

  • Maintain a friendly, professional demeanor throughout the interview.
  • Ensure the interviewer leaves with a positive impression of you.