Last time I suggested how you might look more confident during your interview and today\’s successful interview tips relate to sounding confident – The voice can either betray a lack of confidence or help to create the impression that you are both confident and competent, and if you sound like you know what you are doing, people will think you\’re more capable!
- Pace – This is essentially what gives variety to what you are saying, emphasising elements of the conversation. Practice speeding up and slowing down a nursery rhyme and then add pauses. Try out different paces to create different moods. You don\’t want to speak quickly all the time, or you\’ll sound nervous. Similarly, if you speak to slowly, your audience will get bored. Speak faster when talking about what you\’re passionate about, and speak slower when replying to a question that requires consideration.
- Pause – A really effective way to get someone’s attention. It punctuates the sentence and adds variety. Next time you are asked a question pause before you answer. It shows you are really thinking about the question, implies respect for the other person and allows you to think of the answer!
- Your thoughts affect your voice! – Your mood affects the tone, pitch and volume of your voice which can have a huge affect on the way your vocal communication (and you) are perceived! Adapt your voice to portray a different mood if necessary, just because you\’re nervous, that doesn\’t mean you should sound nervous! Act your way through and nobody will know how scared you felt!
- Don’t forget to warm up! – The mouth and tongue need exercise like any other muscle in the body. Make sure you warm up these muscles before you go to your interview – tongue twisters are great for this. Try to have a variety that you can use to exercise different parts of your mouth and tongue; for example \’The tip of the tongue, the teeth and the lips\’ and \’Look at the windmill whirling in the wind\’ are great tongue twisters to remember.
Next time we will finish this trilogy with some techniques to help you with the initial meet and greet!