Interviewing Competencies 6–8: Presentation, Questioning, and Feedback

October 2005

Over the past few months, we have been discussing the 12 competencies a good interviewer should master. For a list of the competencies, see last month’s newsletter.

This month, we talk about competencies 6–9.

6. Demonstrate Effective Presentation Skills

Are you presenting your absolutely best self and do you have a plan?

Your best self:

Your best self is well groomed and physically open.

When you don’t take the time to groom and wear nice clothes, you are showing disrespect for the client. Usually, since auditors are “authority figures” and I am trying to maintain any shred of credibility that I can, I try to dress just one notch above the client. If they are wearing button-downs with company logos and chinos, I will wear slacks and a nice blouse. If they are wearing dresses and casual business attire, I will wear a suit.

Also, you need to be as open—body language wise—as possible. Your body can convey confidence or secretiveness. Are you facing them during the interview? Are you leaning in? Are your shoulders square toward the interviewee? Are you making eye contact? Did you reach out your hand in greeting at the beginning of the interview? Did you shake their hand as you leave? Are you holding your tablet in a secretive way or is it all in the open? Are your hands held in full view? Hiding your hands or clenching your hands makes people subconsciously nervous and mistrustful of you.

Think of all of those inexpensive portraits of Jesus you sometimes see in at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Not the portrait of Jesus on the cross, but the welcoming Jesus. The one where he is in his white robe, with one foot forward, with hands outstretched, palms open, beaming at you. His eyes follow you wherever you are in the restaurant. You are drinking your margarita, and he is looking at you. You are chewing, and he is looking at you. You can’t even cuss comfortably!

The artist knew exactly how to depict warmth, vulnerability, and friendliness. I am not saying you need to model Jesus in any other way (although that isn’t a bad idea), just that you model your body language after that portrait (which I am not convinced he actually sat for!). I also did not suggest that you dress in white robes and sandals.

A Plan

One way I know to make everyone in the meeting comfortable is to prepare a little agenda and share it with the client. Beware, once you create an agenda, you must make every effort to stick with the agenda. The agenda shows that you are prepared and that you are not going to waste the interviewee’s time. It also lets the interviewee know where you are going—which takes the surprise factor—and thus some of the anxiety—out of the meeting.

An agenda also helps keep things moving if the interviewee is a rambler. If twenty minutes into the interview, you are still on agenda item #1—you can say, “I am so sorry to interrupt, but I see we only have ten minutes left in our interview and we still have so much to cover. Would you mind if we put that idea down in a parking lot and come back to it later?”

What is a parking lot? A parking lot is a list of things that you don’t want to talk about right now but that you don’t’ want to blow off and forget either. At the end of the interview, you come back to the parking lot and say “Do you want to talk about that further? Do you think we need to schedule another meeting?”

What is so beautiful about a parking lot is you have acknowledged the concern of the interviewee and validated their concern—and that may be all you need to do. By the time you come back to it, it is resolved or the interviewee doesn’t care about it anymore. If they do care about it, you talk about it right then or schedule a time to talk about it later. Parking lots are one tool to keep you on track in your interview.

7. Demonstrate Effective Questioning Skills

Please stop using those questionnaires with 50 or so yes/no questions! Instead, convert the questionnaire questions into broader, open-ended questions. So instead of asking 10 yes/no questions about purchasing procedures, instead ask the client “What is your process for approving purchases?”

Try to be like Jay Leno here. Jay Leno’s worst nightmare is a close-lipped celebrity guest. If he gets Brad Pitt on his show and Brad Pitt isn’t in a talkative mood, Jay Leno has to fill in the blanks. He doesn’t ask Brad simple, yes/no questions because Brad will be tempted to just answer and then sit there. So instead of asking Brad, “Did you enjoy making your latest movie?” To which Brad could nod “Yeah.” Jay asks, “What was your favorite thing about working with your co-star, Angelina Jolie?” And then Jay hopes for some DIRT! That is what you are trying to get at, too, isn’t it? Procedural dirt?

You can also rephrase the question several times if it doesn’t elicit the types of response you were looking for. After you have rephrased it three times, leave the question temporarily and then come back to it later.

And don’t expect yourself to ask witty follow-up questions in the moment. This is an unrealistic expectation AND prevents you from actually listening. If you are busy contemplating your next impressive follow-up question, your mind is not focused on what the interviewee is sharing with you. Simply leave the door open for a follow-up phone call or email.

8. Respond Appropriately to Participant’s Needs for Clarification and Feedback

An interview is a great place to start building a trusting relationship with the client. If you are kind and are wise about the way you handle the client’s questions and respond to their needs, you will make a friend.

And friends help friends. Friends help friends get the information they need and get it quickly. Friends help friends by putting them in decent offices and giving them a phone and high-speed Internet access. Friends answer phone calls and emails from other friends.

So if the client asks a question that you think is rather naive or stupid—don’t point it out! You are a kinder, gentler auditor. Politely answer their question and then check with them to make sure you have resolved their problem.