Interviewing is Presenting

Author:  John M. Dix

Trainer, Facilitator, Strategist, Founder JMD Partnerships

Interviewing is Presenting

I’ve done a lot of work with professionals at all levels on presentation skills.

Everything from how to physically prepare for a presentation, to content development, to tips to avoid anxiety, to what to do after a presentation to guarantee your next presentation is even better.

And I have done exactly the same with professionals preparing for an interview.  Same preparation, same content development, same tips and techniques.  And that’s because when you are interviewing you are presenting …presenting your “self”.

So I’d like to share with you some ideas on how to prepare for a presentation and an interview:

Get a Theme Song

Len Mozzi of Dramatic Difference (http://www.lenmozzi.com/) shared this tidbit with me.  Watch any late night talk show and you see the host has a theme song.  Every night, every show, Johnny Carson’s theme song begins and he enters the stage, with confidence and energy.  So get your theme song, get it in your head, listen to it very loudly in the car on the way to your interview and increase your confidence and energy

Loosen Up

That tightness in your neck, stiffness in your shoulders …that’s nervous energy, that rigid tension.  If you walk into an interview with that … it will manifest itself in your speaking.  So you have to loosen up those muscles.  Find a private place to relieve that tension.  Jump up and down, do windmills with your arms and rotate that tight neck.

Anticipation

When I prepare for a presentation, I anticipate those areas of the content that could produce the greatest confusion, that might stir up emotions or that I am less familiar with.  I have to anticipate that those hurdles and obstacles may trip up my presentation.  On the other side of that, I also look for points in the presentation that are going to be “good news” for the audience.  Same goes for an interview.  What parts of your experiences are particularly extraordinary in terms of your fit for the position?  And where are the gaps, what experiences might you lack to win a job offer. How can you address those gaps?

Critic Your Presentation

So how did it go?  Whether a presentation or an interview, immediately following the experience take serious time to review how you did.  What would you do differently?  What areas tripped you up?  How was your body feeling during the interview?  Make notes and refer back to them for your next interview.

I always go back to the work I have done with the CIA (Culinary Institute of America) and remember their tag line.  “Preparation is Everything”, so true for cooking but even truer for presentations and interviews.

Being in transition – a gift?

Author:  Paloma Amar
Executive manager and leader in the non-profit sector

Being in transition – a gift?

As I sit to write, it strikes me how counter-intuitive it is to say that our state of transition can be a gift. It is. In reality, it all lies in our perceptions.

Most of us have been working for the majority of our adult lives. We have worked 40 – 50 hour weeks, have commuted and been stuck in traffic; if we were lucky, we were able to take a few weeks’ vacation a year. As working adults, we have been expected to do the impossible and have accomplished it… BUT, at what cost? We may have sacrificed relationships, holidays, children’s events. Some of us may have sacrificed our overall wellbeing both physically and mentally. No, we did not do this on purpose or planned to. Yet, we did.

So let me ask you… When was the last time that you took an introspective stock of who you are? Most of us define ourselves by our work (e.g. I’m an accountant, lawyer, therapist, etc.).  However, is that enough? When the definition of our titles/jobs gets taken away, don’t we lose a significant part of our identity? Yes, we are still mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends yet those seem to be relegated to the back burner as evidenced by when we meet people. Often, those who cross our paths do not first ask, “Who are you?” Rather, the question is often “What do you do?”  We are even offered sympathies for being in this transition.

Our current state of transition, whether voluntary or not, offers us an opportunity to re-balance our lives. When was the last time you asked yourself “what do I want to be when I grow up…”? Where does my passion lie…”? Is my passion in alignment with the work I’ve been doing…?  Our overall feeling of well-being is closely tied to us answering these questions and, most importantly, following the path forged by the answers.

Full-time employment offers a sense of identity, fulfills financial obligations, may even offer an opportunity to do good for our community. The questions are - what is the fuel that feeds our overall wellbeing? What has been the toll we have paid emotionally, mentally, physically?

In reality, I am not saying anything you don’t know. So what is this gift we’ve been given? It is, in my mind, the most precious gift anyone can offer. Our transition offers us the gift of TIME.

We have the amazing opportunity to exhale. Our time is now our own; we can spend it in a way that best suits our needs and wellness. Our transition offers us the opportunity to answer the questions about our passions, to align our passions with our careers, to take stock of who we are rather than what we do. 

So go ahead…EXHALE. Find your passion and bring that to life. Use your passion to inspire change, not just in others but, most importantly, in yourself. In essence, take leadership of your life.

Congratulations… you’ve been given the gift of TIME – use it wisely.