Preparing for MBA Admissions Interviews is not just about the right answer. A big part of our 2nd session in F1GMAT’s Mock Interview Service is about delivery.
3 factors I keep reiterating to clients for improving their interview performance are Medium, Loud, and Clear.
1) Speed of Delivery
a) The Superfast
If you want to hear superfast songs – Eminem, in my books, is third. Busta Rhymes and Snow (90s music) are at the top of my list. There are candidates whose natural style of delivery is fast. As long as each word is clearly enunciated – accent or speed is rarely an issue. Even then, if you are giving a Zoom or Skype interview, such superfast delivery can lead to awkward moments where the lag of the conversation takes some time to process. When it is slow, the interviewer can guess for missed audio or even clipped audio.
For in-person interviews, don’t worry about speed as long as you don’t go too crazy. We know when a person is a fast talker.
b) Fast – From Nerves
When I started my YouTube Channel, I was nervous. From remaining an anonymous writer who was in the background of all the articles you loved in F1GMAT, I was suddenly in front of the camera trying to talk. The last great stage performance was in the final year of my engineering, where I presented Augmented Reality when this concept was just beginning to take commercial shape and impressed my small 50-odd audience. Now, it was in front of potentially 150+ countries and 100,0000+ viewers. One thing I tried to do to mask my nerves was to talk fast. The idea was to force the audience to pay attention to what I was saying without looking at all the imperfections of my face, the lighting, and the background. I might have succeeded in that, but the engagement in those videos is low in terms of completion rate. That is one metric I pay attention to over likes or dislikes. How many people completed watching my video?
What does YouTube Engagement say?
There is a consistent trend – fast is way behind, superfast, if it is intentional, do well. The slow ones are the worst performing.
Medium speed was at the top.
c) Medium
My medium speed might be fast for many, slow for a few, and medium for most. It is the confidence with which you speak at a pace that is true to how you talk in real life, where the magic happens. It takes practice to reach that pace. Script and Answer your questions several times.
For help scripting your answers, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Mock Interview Service
2) Loud
The too-loud scenario rarely exists unless you are using external mics that lead to the humming noise. For all other scenarios, algorithms in the communication software automatically reduce the loudness.
Candidates from Eastern culture, where loudly talking is considered rude, are the only demographic I had to coach to speak up. The rest of the candidates from other nationalities had a natural inclination to speak loudly, even if their answers were not perfect.
A few times, I have seen applicants switching volume when they are not sure of the answer. It is a dead giveaway. Even if you don’t know the answer, speak with a consistent volume.
3) Clear
I am no one to judge. If you are on a desk job like me – writing, creating, strategizing, building technology, doing analysis, or meeting clients and presenting once a week or once a month, there will be a definite gap in how you present your thoughts in spoken words vs. how you write.
The first challenge for me when I began doing podcasts for F1GMAT was being comfortable with my own voice and style. If you are too critical, you might do strange tweaking that would sound forced.
Find your true style and then speak with clarity.
Yesterday, my wife was nervous to do her Chemistry Podcast citing that she sounds like a girl and not a woman. I shared that I also hated my voice. But if you enunciate the right “r” and “s,” you don’t have to worry about the quality of your timber. Even the best actors sound nasally (Brando and Di Caprio).
Accept how you sound and focus on the golden rule – Medium, Loud and Clear.
For help preparing for your MBA Admissions Interview, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Mock Interview Service.
