Power of expression is a powerful tool in the hands of an interviewee. Interview, in essence, is a verbal oriented test designed to make a candidate speak out his mind. Ability to express one’s ideas freely is of central importance to the final outcome. A person who is not able to express his ideas freely, eloquently, clearly and impressively is unlikely to win favours and make his presence felt. A candidate should be able to hold attention of his audience, in this case the interviewer(s). When there are present more than one interviewer, a candidate should reply to the interviewer who asked the question, but at the same time, rotate his eyes smoothly passing from one to another interviewer so that he keeps all of them involved in what he says. As it is, the interviewer who has finally put up the question does it in the capacity of a representative of the whole group.
A candidate should exploit his voice and speech pattern to the most so that he is able to put forward his ideas, thoughts, opinions and views in a clear, unambiguous way, so that a controlled, rational, interesting and comprehensive message is sent across. A candidate should consider the following five points while practising to speak at an interview. These are : volume, tone, pitch, speed and breathing.
The first requirement of a speaker is that he is heard. A candidate should speak as loudly as would make all the interviewers listen and understand him clearly. The loudness or intensity of speech should be according to the distance between the interviewer(s) and him. But he should not shout and should prefer to use the lightest possible voice so that he is properly heard without having to shout. It is generally the usual voice that a candidate is used to. It has been seen, when a candidate tries to speak louder, he happens to miss important data because of exhaustion. A candidate should also take care to see the acoustic quality of a room. Generally, the large rooms with least furniture echo the voice. In such a situation a candidate should speak at a low volume. Don’t shout but speak to communicate so that your audience understands what you want them to.
A candidate should use his tone for duel effect and emphasis. He can also show by the tone whether he has finished or is shifting to another point. Raising of voice means that you are increasing the intensity of your feeling, and if the point at discussion demands objectivity, it may go against you. Generally, speaking softly attract the attention of the interviewer better. Similarly, you should vary your tone according to the situation. Mono tone shows indifference and disinterestedness. It also shows lack of keenness.
A candidate can use the pitch of his voice to change from one point to another in a subtle but fascinating manner. It also indicates to the interviewer that you have not finished as yet. The moment an interviewer feels that a candidate has finished, he is wont to ask another question, thus causing a break in your thoughts and their free flow. Pitch can also be used to give dramatic effect to the entire communication.
The speed of speech is equally important. Some people speak faster than others, while some take unnecessary pauses in between causing distraction to the listeners. Similarly, speaking at a constant speed shows a person to be monotonous and thus boring to the interviewer. A candidate should practise to speak at varying speeds depending upon the situation. It is advisable to speak slowly but not so slowly as to make out indecisiveness of mind and thinking process. In the same way, a pause can be used to create anticipation, suspense and encouragement. When a candidate has finished making a long discussion, he should summarise too about his final verdict so that the interviewers are clear about his point.
The most important point while speaking is how a candidate controls his breathing. Uncontrolled, erratic or gushing out wind at a great force by the candidate can be off-putting to the interviewers. Constant, slow breathing as would not be noticed is the best way to breathe. It can be done easily while speaking short sentences. But in case the candidate chooses to speak lengthy sentences, and he exhausts his breath in between, it will only dawn nervousness on him. Keep your breath under control. Should you find your breath going uneasy, slowly take in a long breath and release your stress, nervousness and tension too. As it is, it is better to take unscheduled breathing than to start stuttering and make yourself unintelligible.
Ask yourself the following questions and correct if needed :
· Do you speak in a monotone or vary your pitch?
· Do you drop your voice at the end of a sentence (like Rajesh Khanna)?
· Do you use very long sentences (like Devanand)?
· Do you speak too slow? Too fast?
· Is your speech constant?
· Is your voice boring?
· Do you run out of breath in the middle of a sentence?
A candidate should exploit his voice and speech pattern to the most so that he is able to put forward his ideas, thoughts, opinions and views in a clear, unambiguous way, so that a controlled, rational, interesting and comprehensive message is sent across. A candidate should consider the following five points while practising to speak at an interview. These are : volume, tone, pitch, speed and breathing.
The first requirement of a speaker is that he is heard. A candidate should speak as loudly as would make all the interviewers listen and understand him clearly. The loudness or intensity of speech should be according to the distance between the interviewer(s) and him. But he should not shout and should prefer to use the lightest possible voice so that he is properly heard without having to shout. It is generally the usual voice that a candidate is used to. It has been seen, when a candidate tries to speak louder, he happens to miss important data because of exhaustion. A candidate should also take care to see the acoustic quality of a room. Generally, the large rooms with least furniture echo the voice. In such a situation a candidate should speak at a low volume. Don’t shout but speak to communicate so that your audience understands what you want them to.
A candidate should use his tone for duel effect and emphasis. He can also show by the tone whether he has finished or is shifting to another point. Raising of voice means that you are increasing the intensity of your feeling, and if the point at discussion demands objectivity, it may go against you. Generally, speaking softly attract the attention of the interviewer better. Similarly, you should vary your tone according to the situation. Mono tone shows indifference and disinterestedness. It also shows lack of keenness.
A candidate can use the pitch of his voice to change from one point to another in a subtle but fascinating manner. It also indicates to the interviewer that you have not finished as yet. The moment an interviewer feels that a candidate has finished, he is wont to ask another question, thus causing a break in your thoughts and their free flow. Pitch can also be used to give dramatic effect to the entire communication.
The speed of speech is equally important. Some people speak faster than others, while some take unnecessary pauses in between causing distraction to the listeners. Similarly, speaking at a constant speed shows a person to be monotonous and thus boring to the interviewer. A candidate should practise to speak at varying speeds depending upon the situation. It is advisable to speak slowly but not so slowly as to make out indecisiveness of mind and thinking process. In the same way, a pause can be used to create anticipation, suspense and encouragement. When a candidate has finished making a long discussion, he should summarise too about his final verdict so that the interviewers are clear about his point.
The most important point while speaking is how a candidate controls his breathing. Uncontrolled, erratic or gushing out wind at a great force by the candidate can be off-putting to the interviewers. Constant, slow breathing as would not be noticed is the best way to breathe. It can be done easily while speaking short sentences. But in case the candidate chooses to speak lengthy sentences, and he exhausts his breath in between, it will only dawn nervousness on him. Keep your breath under control. Should you find your breath going uneasy, slowly take in a long breath and release your stress, nervousness and tension too. As it is, it is better to take unscheduled breathing than to start stuttering and make yourself unintelligible.
Ask yourself the following questions and correct if needed :
· Do you speak in a monotone or vary your pitch?
· Do you drop your voice at the end of a sentence (like Rajesh Khanna)?
· Do you use very long sentences (like Devanand)?
· Do you speak too slow? Too fast?
· Is your speech constant?
· Is your voice boring?
· Do you run out of breath in the middle of a sentence?
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