The Undercover Recruiter

how to present in interviews

In my time as a senior recruiter I have sat through no small number of presentations. Many of them left me cold. I wondered if the people giving them really understood the purpose of the exercise i.e. to test in this way is the candidate’s ability to represent and sell an organisation, (and in the process themselves). To test their ability to inspire an audience with confidence. To test an ability to persuade and to demonstrate the ability to marshal thoughts and structure something that sounds really impressive. Showcasing. Convincing. Persuading. Getting the message across.

So sitting, as some candidates I have listened to do, in front of a flip chart with some very small handwriting, wiggling across a single piece paper does not really do a deal to impress. Mumbling in a down beat fashion or shuffling pages of A4 on the desk really does not cut it.

I also wonder if few people attend any training on presentations or public speaking. Speaking to an audience is one of the most common phobias there is. Why would you volunteer to go on a course to do something that literally frightens you? Suffers feel that all eyes are upon them – “the spotlight effect” – their acute self-awareness makes it very difficult for them to focus on what is going on around them, to remember their speech, or to read from notes. Their mind goes blank or foggy.

Their distress is further fuelled by their efforts to hide or mask their discomfort which may become apparent through blushing, facial immobility, sweating, shaking, twitching, or an inability to speak normally or coherently. And in an interview situation where getting the job depends on success it is all much worse.

So what should the candidates have do when faced with the task…. ‘you have ten minutes to give us a presentation on…’?

An understanding of the audience, what they already know, what language they speak and what they want to hear about. I guess the man from the World Bank had never met a social housing tenant, I think he was an academic. His presentation, although very important, did not set the room alight. Effective presenters know who their audience are and how the message needs to be delivered.
Effective presenters stand and command the room. Presenting is a display activity. Standing indicates confidence and control. It enables a small amount of movement, a little pacing, wider hand gestures; a greater ability to get up close to the audience. Standing enables you to inject more energy into your presentation. If you think of some of the great orators that you have heard, they did not sit behind a desk and mutter.
Clear diction and adequate volume. One of the great bonuses of standing is the way that it will enable you to breath deeply and speak on the out-breath. This will give your voice depth and volume. (But if you have a microphone you need to be careful not to over project.)
Measured delivery, presenters need to relax, speak slowly and use all the techniques of pace and rhythm to ensure that there is clarity and emphasis. Presenters need to recognise the ability of the audience to absorb and give them appropriate time to do so.
Good visual aids, if you have to make your presentation ‘on the day’, and are given flip chart, tuck a ruler and pencil in your pocket. Make your visual aids, helpful, clean and neat. Use them for the emphasis, they should give not for the narrative. If you are given a topic in advance and are using powerpoint, use it sensibly, again it is not the narrative it is the emphasis.
Structure, a presentation needs a clear beginning, middle and end. It needs an overview and a conclusion. And keep to time, nothing annoys a panel more and tells them that you have not planned and rehearsed.
Message, if a presentation is testing oral persuasiveness then there needs to be a very clear message or argument with facts and evidence to support it. Ask yourself, what is the the thing that I want my audience to walk away remembering? you also need great content. You need content tailored to the audience and answering the questions they want answering. Speak with conviction, if you don’t believe your message who else will?
A smile, a sign that you are pleased to be there. Sometimes a touch of humour can help you build rapport with the audience, but how much you can use this will depend on the situation. But your smile needs to be on the mouth and in your eyes and your eyes need to meet theirs.

Yes, I have sat through many hours of very poor presentations and many other hours of very good ones. To be memorable you need, great, relevant content delivered with conviction and style.

photo by: Victor1558

Mary Hope

Mary Hope is the founder of Mary Hope Career Success, she works with executives and managers to support them get paid more, promoted faster and feel more satisfied. She has 30 years experience of HR, training and headhunting both private and public sectors, is a published author and career coach. Follow Mary on Twitter @maryhopecareers

One of the best free ways to market your personal brand to your target audience is to take on speaking engagements in your field. I do this quite a lot in the London meetup circuit and I would like to share some tips on how to get booked to talk.

When you speak before a group of people, you generate lots of interest and you will have plenty of opportunities to chat with potential employees, customers, partners, investors etc. Compare this to a normal meeting where you do your pitch to one or two people, it’s obviously more efficient to do it to ten or twenty prospects in one go.

Expert status

By giving talks on specific topics you establish yourself as an expert or even a thought leader. Being seen as someone that really knows their stuff will lead to increased interest from peers and customers. The more you are seen, the more you are likely to be mentioned and interviewed in the media, both online and offline. If you have a site or a blog, you will notice that your visitor stats can skyrocket after a good speech. Your increased exposure will in turn lead to more enquiries, business and hopefully allow you to increase your rates.

How to get speaking engagements

How do you pitch yourself and your speaking prowess to meetups, seminars and conferences? You obviously have to find out who does the bookings of speakers. The best way to convince this person to book you is by sending over a speaker one-sheet, basically a one pager outlining what you talk about and why they should book you.

Just like a resume is screened by an employer, the speaker sheet will be reviewed by the event planner and it needs to provide this person with enough compelling information to get you booked in. Here are the main five bits of content your speaker fact sheet should contain:

1. Name and photo

You will need a photo that brings out your personality and stays consistent with the topics you are proposing to speak about. The photo is critical to your personal brand as images tend to be remembered long after the text.

2. Topics and benefits

What exactly do you speak about? List a few of your ‘greatest hits’ talks and how they were received. What are the benefits to the audience, why do they need to listen to you? You can write what problem you are looking to solve and what others thought of your presentations.

3. Bio

The short biography will tell the reader what you have done in the past, what makes you an expert on your topic and where you have spoken recently. Just like your normal bio, make sure to stay concise, write what you do for others and back it up with evidence. Drop any prominent names that you think could be familiar to the reader.

More on bios at 8 Steps To Writing a Professional Bio.

4. Contact information

Your call to action has to be followed up with your contact details. Give the reader a range of options to contact you (phone, email, site, social media etc) so that they can use their preferred method.

5. Testimonials

This is where you let others sing your praises. List quotes from previous event planners and even audience members. Make sure to include glowing testimonials from a diverse set of people, so that any reader will be able to relate to the feedbacks you have received.

Final Note

Having a great looking speaker one-sheet doesn’t mean you now should spray and pray it to every event planner in town. Take your time to research the individual and personalize your message as best you can. Follow up with a phone call to make sure they have received it and to create some urgency. Best of luck with your speaking campaign!

To become a better speaker, check out our this post about Toastmasters.

Image credit JD Hancock

Jorgen Sundberg

The original Undercover Recruiter, after 7 years in tech recruiting Jorgen now runs Link Humans, a social media marketing agency in London.

How to Give Presentations in Interviews [8 Tips]