5 Steps to Improve Your Job Interview Performance

When candidates prepare for their interviews, most make the mistake of solely focusing on rehearsing answers to common questions.

Uh, no good.

I’ve got a much more effective way to truly elevate your performance and get better results.

Remember, as I’ve reminded you, oh, I dunno, about a bajillion times, the most qualified candidate often doesn't get the job.

So, there are other aspect of your interview interaction you need to nail!

There’s the storytelling part.

I’ve gone to great lengths to teach you my CAAR technique and how to prepare and package your “power stories.”

Those lessons are fantastic and you can find them on my YouTube channel. They will teach you tactically how to identify the right stories and deliver them.

That is, how to write the lyrics to the song.

Today, however, I have a next-level lesson on ways to improve your “performance.”

I’m talking not about the song itself, but the singing, dancing, and energetic part of the delivery that is overlooked by job seekers but mostly what the interviewer notices!

If you'd like to build a great career and lead a rewarding life, check out some of these other places where I share my teachings:

1. Check out the milewalk Academy, my coaching and training site, for freemiums and premiums.

2. I have hundreds of educational and inspirational videos on my YouTube Channel.

3. Grab any of my three books related to interviewing, hiring, and goal setting. All can be found on my Amazon Author Page.

4. Follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter (X), TikTok, Threads, and Facebook.

5. Stay in touch with me in your email inbox by joining my newsletter here!

--Andy

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
today I want to talk to you about how to
actually improve your interviewing
performance and I I chose those words
carefully because interviewing the one
thing about interviewing is you get
hired because of your performance if
you're in the interview what does the
interview intervention book say what do
I say in the book you're
qualified but the most qualified

(00:20):
candidate rarely gets the job it's the
person who performs the best
storytellin value so I know I teach you
many and in many lessons on how to
tactically deliver better stories be
more crisp but today I want to actually
talk to you about your performance
because I do think that this is yet

(00:43):
another way that you can improve what it
is that you're doing in an interview to
score better so I was strength training
this morning and I you'll see the
association here in a minute and so just
about an hour ago this this lesson pops
into my head and I just I actually
couldn't wait to give it to you so uh if
you are not familiar with me uh but for

(01:04):
those of you that are you know that I
absolutely love I absolutely love
running I love Triathlon swimming biking
strength training the whole the whole
thing I mean I just love staying in
shape and I was working out this morning
and it popped into my head about how I
generally prepare for these talks and
you may or may not know this but every

(01:26):
week when I come and I give you an act a
lesson that I've advertised or a webinar
or a workshop or a group coaching
session or whatever it might be um I
never actually practice the lesson ever
I don't actually go through it A to Z I
don't rehearse it I don't practice that
way I use different techniques and those

(01:46):
different techniques are some things I
want to share with you today because I
think if you if you put these into your
interview prep rotation I think you will
do much much better so when I when I
when I when I do a a a lesson I have the
point I want to teach you but what I
really work on skills-wise day in and
day out is I work on other things like

(02:06):
my ability to focus I practice focusing
every day so that I can keep my
attention um there's an outline and a
structure that I always work on to make
sure that I'm giving you certain points
in a certain sequence uh I want to make
sure that that is as effective as
possible I want to make sure I pick the
right analogies I draw the right
associations I help you avoid the
mistakes and all of these other things I

(02:27):
work on my empathetic skills um you
these are people who are showing up in
the middle of the day on a Thursday
because they need my help they're going
through some trouble either with their
job or their career in general or
whatever it might be so I work on these
other things so as I was working out
this morning and I was doing an exercise
and I was standing on one leg and it
dawned on me that I should I really need

(02:48):
to share this so I told you I love
running and this may sound obvious or
maybe not but running is a is a
one-legged Sport and anybody who runs I
think gets that never at any moment in
time are both of my feet on the ground
ever which means that each leg needs to
be equally strong my balance needs to be

(03:10):
in order and and and while every week I
work with my coach and she she and I we
I run a lot and she assembles the runs
for me and there's a long run and
there's some speed workor and there's a
tempo run and I run Hills and don't even
worry about if you don't know what that
is but the point is I work on all of
these things to do to to build my

(03:30):
stamina and build my strength and build
my balance and all that but one thing I
never do is I never actually run the
race not while I'm practicing right I
don't run a 10K I don't run a half
marathon I don't run an allout Marathon
I don't I don't ever do that we're
working on different components but
where the where the real gold is isn't
even in the running it's in the strength
training and because running is a

(03:52):
one-legged sport uh I do a lot of
one-legged exercises if you'd ever seen
one of my strength uh workouts you'd
notice I'm on one leg a lot and I'm not
just talking about doing one-legged
squats right on your legs I'm talking
about everything that I do um to do to
do a a bicep curl while an overall
meaningless exercise in general other
than how your arm looks but to stand on

(04:14):
one leg and do it and and engage your
glutes and your core and everything to
make sure that you in Balance really
increases your ability to be better at
running okay so when I think about how I
actually work on my delivery of the race
that's one thing but when I work on my
delivery of this performance of the

(04:35):
presentations that I give you you might
be wondering well okay if you don't if
you don't practice the talk and you're
not running the race what is it what is
it that you're actually doing and it's
in it's in the practice routines that I
have for my performances that I want you
to start integrating into your
interviewing performances or your
presentation performances or whatever it
might be so you might be wondering well

(04:55):
what do you do so um last week middle of
the week
later in the day I had some time blacked
out to review one of the live office
hour shows I gave you it was a it was an
hour and a half show except I took this
15minute segment of the show itself I
took that 15minute segment it was the
hardest segment to actually deliver it

(05:17):
was the most important segment and I
watched it eight or nine times you may
be wondering well well how on Earth
could you be watching it eight or nine
times what do you do so the first time I
watched I watched it I I knew what the
segment was I wanted to review it it had
been a number of weeks since I delivered
this it it had been a couple of months
since I delivered this and I wanted to

(05:38):
look back at it so I watch the I watch
the 15minute segment and I just watch it
I take it in I look to see what I'm what
I'm sharing I watch the chat I do it
more for entertainment of my own self-
purposes and I'm looking at do I seem
engaging how am I delivering this uh is
the chat moving is the chat silent are
they listening to me is the chat chatty

(05:59):
meaning either bored with me or are
they're telling me they're tracking or
what what's what's actually happening
and I watch it again next time I watch
it if I didn't know what I know did I
give them the right steps did I drop the
bombs in the right place was my speed
right was my Cadence right did I slow
down when I wanted to should I have sped
up did I hit the points oh wait I missed

(06:20):
the point oh wait I recovered it later
next time I do that I don't want to do
that I want the point to be made here
not there right I watch it again I'm
looking at what what what what am I
doing how am I delivering this so then
it gets into the real work so about the
fifth time
through what I do is I don't watch the
video I just listen to the audio and

(06:43):
then I'm trying to pay attention to the
Cadence did I hit the right notes did I
go up when I wanted did I go down when I
wanted did I make sure I let it sink in
did I engage them and so on do I like
the way I
sound next thing next time through I
turned the volume off now I'm actually

(07:04):
sitting here in this chair the one
that's rocket is laying nearby and I'm
sitting there I got my iPad I got my
iPad on that on that table and I'm
looking at I'm looking at the screen I
got my you know I got the I got the the
tea or whatever I had in hand my wife's
in the kitchen she's looking I thought
she wanted to come in and talk she say
what are you doing I I'm I'm I'm I'm

(07:25):
watching a video uh you and she saw I
don't have any earbuds in I don't just
watching a video there's no there's no
sound like I know I'm watching me from
one of my from one of my live office
hour shows I want to know if what I'm
saying looks like the mannerisms are in
sync did I use the hand gestures I
wanted to does everything look congruent

(07:47):
because the consistency between what
you're saying and your and your
mannerisms matter so now I'm looking at
if I'm if I'm watching me is this a
person I'd want to listen to is this a
person I would believe
right are the facial expressions
consistent with what I'm actually
saying and I'm I'm looking through it
and then I watch it again and again I do

(08:09):
all that work to ring out this much
improvement in my performance for you so
why am I sharing all this with you and
how does this apply to you well a lot of
you what you do is you try to run the
race with the interviews that's bad you
write out your answers you try to
memorize them that's really really bad

(08:30):
not only do you sound robotic if you can
actually remember them but for most of
you even if you write them out you
absolutely cannot remember them all
under duress not to mention how hard it
is to stuff all that information in your
head and all it's like you're studying
for an exam in school but not under
without truly understanding the

(08:50):
rationale reasoning and all the
associations and all the other stuff
that go along with your
performance so what can you do to maybe
steal some tips and techniques that that
I do week in and week out day in and day
out well first thing is get yourself a
power story if you don't know what a

(09:11):
power story is to that's Andy speak for
what's your bread and butter story that
is virtually exactly like either exactly
like or your best illustration of how
you're going to help them achieve their
goals if you're a project manager what's
the project that you manage that's most
analogous with what they need think
about that story step one step two

(09:34):
structure it out just notes no notes
don't write it all out notes take uh
coach's car technique c a a r if you
don't know what that is there's a I
don't know about a dozen videos on my
YouTube channel in my interview playlist
that you can check out to understand how
to package that's the outline I want to
give you understanding conceptually that

(09:55):
you need to start in this spot and then
go to this spot and then go this way and
then go that way that's what I want you
practicing and getting comfortable with
that's the second thing third thing is
the story itself that you're going to
tell is only 3 to five minutes right so
you you you don't have an awful long

(10:15):
amount of or not a lot of time to
actually say it you turn the zoom on
deliver your deliver your story don't
stop try to concentrate try to focus all
that good stuff and deliver it next
thing watch it next step I don't know
step step four watch it and just see

(10:36):
just just look at yourself see how you
sound does it make sense did you hit the
right notes pun intended right did you
you know how did you look how did you
sound sweep through it's only 3 to five
minutes go back through it turn the
video off turn turn the C you know turn
the screen around turn yourself around

(10:56):
whatever just listen do you sound like
somebody you want to hire do you sound
like somebody that's engaging do you
sound like somebody that's totally
confident in what you're delivering next
sweep turn the audio off what do you
look like doesn't matter if you're going
in for an in-person
onetoone uh interview session or if
you're going into a group panel session

(11:18):
or if you're doing a video session or if
you're doing a phone session you can run
through these techniques to evaluate
your performance take some notes what do
you need to change
and it will be
amazing how much you'll be able to glean
through those couple three four sweeps
that you might want to go

(11:38):
through to watch
yourself these techniques are going to
help you per improve your
performance so if you really really want
to improve your your interview interview
performance start doing some one-legged
exercises that's what these are people
one-legged exercises all right I hope
that helps you hope hope that was fun

(12:00):
for you as much as it was for me popping
in my head when I was doing my
one-legged bicep curls this morning
among among other exercises
but I just I'm always looking for ways
to try to get you to look at what you're
doing from a different angle how can I
get better I think those you know that
kind of that four five step technique

(12:21):
right there will will help you cool