Confidence on demand: How to ace your upcoming interview

For the past 3 months I’ve been coaching a client making a career pivot working towards landing a new role in Tech. He scheduled some time this morning to help dial in his messaging and ensure he projects confidence in his upcoming interview. I thought I’d share some insights on this familiar and relatable topic.

While it’s natural to be nervous, here are a few of the tools, tips and strategies to help feel well prepared for your next interview:

Structure your message

Use a proven structure to help keep your message clear, concise and coherent. A couple of great formats for structuring your message are: STAR (Situation – Task – Action – Result), commonly used in interview settings; and What – So What – Now What, a great all purpose structure. Both can be used effectively in interviews depending on the context.

Pacing

When we’re nervous, our pace of speech tends to speed up. To combat this tendency, practice speaking slowly and deliberately when doing your interview prep.

A few good questions

People tend to mostly focus on answering questions in their interview prep. It can also be helpful to plan a few questions to ask about the role or the company to show your engagement in the process and as a way to differentiate yourself from the competition. Great questions can make an memorable impression!

Attitude

The feeling of being assessed and in the spotlight can be stressful during interviews. Consider what changes with this perspective shift: instead of treating the interview like it’s 100% focused on you, consider a more mutual approach, where you and the interviewer are assessing each other to make sure it’s an equally great fit for both parties.

Take a ‘Yes, And’ approach

It’s likely you may be working through some nerves. It’s normal and natural and to be expected. Acknowledge those feelings with a ‘yes, and’ approach. For example, recontextualizing those feelings from “I feel nervous” to something like “Yes, I feel nervous, and I am well prepared.” Or “Yes, I feel nervous, and I’m excited about this opportunity.

Posture

Posture can have a meaningful impact in projecting confidence both internally and externally. Choosing a more upright posture can help you feel more confident, improve vocal projection and clarity, and presents a nonverbal message of confidence in your abilities.

Taking a holistic view

Make sure you get a good night’s sleep and decent breakfast. Take advantage of anything else that will help you feel calm, centered, clear and confident, including exercise or a walk before the interview. Use anything else at your disposal to help you get in the right mindset and mood. One of my favorite tools is listening to energizing music.

Confidence in a jar

Remind yourself and focus on other areas in life where you feel skillful and confident. Maybe it’s a hobby, passion, or practice that you enjoy. Tap into the positive feelings centered around those activities and look to carry those feelings and that energy into the interview. Confidence is transferable!

In addition, you can tap into memory of past successes as a way to channel that positivity into your next opportunity. Take a moment to tune in to how that success and confidence feels in your body. Take a ‘felt sense snapshot’ of that experience to capture confidence in a jar.

I hope these tools help you approach your next interview with clarity, presence and confidence. No need to remember or focus on all of these aspects. Choose a few items that resonate with you, don’t over think it.

Make sure to celebrate your wins and acknowledge what went well. Because confidence tends to come after, celebration and positive reinforcement help cultivate confidence into the future.

Most importantly, remember: You got this.