Presentation at Interviews…

Job interviews have been and are transitioning to competency-based interviews over the past 3-5 years, where interviewers want interviewees to share examples of past experiences instead of giving them standard answers i.e. not telling them what they would do, but instead telling them what they did do in past and present job experiences.

Another area of the interview process that is changing too is the introduction or incorporation of interviewees delivering a presentation to the interviewers. This presentation usually takes place at the start or at the end of an interview process. It is normally on a topic relevant and related to the organisation where a product or service challenge is narrated in the form of a question and interviewees are requested to give their opinions / solutions to the challenge on PP slides over a 15-20 minute period.

If you are or feel you will have to deliver a presentation as part of a recruitment and selection process, do the following and win the day:

  • Brush up on your communication skills, know that this is the main reason they what you to present to them in the form of a presentation i.e. can you speak, are you a good communicator and are you passionate about them and the subject matter i.e. their product and / or service
  • Know more than they know about the organisation, its clients, customers, internal / external problems and challenges. Blow them away with your knowledge gained from a previous deep research process
  • Put yourself in the interviewers shoes i.e. how would they articulate this
  • Act as if you are already an employee of the organisation, but being respectful throughout
  • Be yourself in a professional manner i.e. authentic
  • Speak for the heart with an enthusiasm, an energy and an empathy that helps them to like you

…and ultimately hire you…

Communicate well to be an inspired Leader…

If you read any of the people-, human resource-, business-based magazines, journals and publications, there has, is and always will be articles linked directly or indirectly to leadership and leadership skills. In fact over the past number of years there has been a noticeable increase in the spoken and written word of leadership. Leadership is the word of today, and the future is depending on people to lead others, make decisions and see them through. Foundational to these people’s leadership skills is how they speak i.e. their communication skills. How do they get people to do what they want them to do, to do things that they may not want to do, to keep going until the job is done and indeed to foresee and plan for the next problem, challenge, task, project or issue?

From the studies on communication skills by experts across the world, we are educated in the fact that it is not what we are saying, but how we are saying it. People do listen to what you are saying, but they are more inspired, more motivated, more enthused by how you are saying it i.e. your tone of voice and your physiology. Put yourself in the audience’s shoes and think about how you can make them move, change and take action? Watch and listen to great speaking auditors who you admire, whether they are in the public eye or people you know through work, socially or personnally. Observe how they project their voice; add music to it; inflect their words; their facial expressions; their gestures, all leading to engaged listeners.

To develop these great communication skills is to learn the fundamentals and the know-how first and then practice them in the real world whenever you get the opportunity. In fact, attend public speaking classes, offer to speak at events / occasions (through your profession or socially) and become the inspired leader that people want to look up to…

WIIFT…

What’s In It For Them (WIIFT) is the question your prospective audience are asking themselves before they go to hear your speech or when they are listening to your speech. They may be intrigued by you as a speaker and your reputation based on past performances, they may be intrigued by the event / seminar title, they be intrigued by your speech title / subject, but before, during and after they are usually evaluating will, am I, did I learn anything from this speech content? Will it, is it, did it help me in my business, help me in my career, help me make more money, help me save money, help me increase turnover, help me increase customer footfall, did it help me in any way at all?

As a speaker of business topics we have to always be asking ‘What’s in this speech content that will impress and help my audience?’ as you develop your speech content and structure it, we need to be aware of the immediate challenges of our business colleagues in their particular areas of expertise, service and product offerings.

Develop narrative that is current, up-to-date, indeed ground-breaking so that they will see you as the leader in the field, the person to go to, the person who knows the most about the subject you are talking about. Research current challenging topics that people need help on and write about them. Give your knowledge, opinion on them and tell them how to cope, manage, deal with it.

We need to be aware that it is not always what we wish to talk about and / or share knowledge on. It has to be what the audience want to hear, what will change their way of thinking in business, what will make them better people in their business and with their customers / clients?

We have heard of the term WIIFM i.e. ‘What’s In It For Me’ as a listener, now ask the question ‘What’s In It For Them’ (WIIFT) as a speech writer…

Captivating Introductions…

As people in sales, our first meeting and verbal exchange with prospective people who could buy our product / service, we must have the ability to be captivating i.e. we need to captivate the buyer, the client, the customer’s attention and interest with a ‘Captivating Introduction’ so as to get them to sit up, listen to us and ask pertinent questions, leading to a sale closure!

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How can we do this?

There are three parts to a Captivating Introduction, or sometimes called ‘opening pitch’ (italics in brackets are mental questions that our potential buyer is asking as we speak to them):

My name (Who is this?)

  1. Who do I represent (What are you called / who do you work for)
  2. What I / we do narrated and structured in a way that is different, thought-provoking and encourages the listener to want to hear more (Instead of saying what you do, say why you do what you do and how you can help me, change my life, support my business).

Sincere interest and more questioning should then ensue / follow.

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Example:

Hi, my name is John Smith!

  • I represent Smith Stationery and Printers as their sales Representative, world class and leading stationery manufacturers and printers for the past 70 years.
  • We can help you reduce your stationery and printing costs by 25% in 12 months.

The third part is the key part, where instead of telling our potential buyer what we do, we tell them why we do it and how we can help them in their business challenges. A figure or value in the captivating introduction adds significant weight and makes the buyer see you as the expert. People do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it (Source: Simon Sinek).

Remember, captivating introductions need to be short, sharp and effective. They need to grab the buyers’ attention by including a statement of how we can specifically help them.

 Brevity is Power!