Speaking in video interviews or face-to-face interviews can be daunting for some, and understandably so. It's an unfamiliar environment with the added pressure of time and an overarching theme of 'I need to get this job within X timeframe'.
Here are my top 3 tips for you to feel more confident in such scenarios and ace assessments that depend on you speaking well-
Here are my top 3 tips for you to feel more confident in such scenarios and ace assessments that depend on you speaking well-
- Practice- this is 100% a cliché but there really is no other way to get better at public speaking than through practice. Start slow- begin by picking an interview question (you can check out the TCLA question bank here), looking at yourself in the mirror and practising your answer. Observe where you're going well and the stages at which you stumble and take note of this. Then graduate to practising with your careers service/family/friends and ask them to give you tips on where you can adjust your tone, enunciation and pace. Keep doing this till you get to a place of comfort with how you're delivering your answers.
- Know your stuff- Something that's bound to trip you up while speaking, irrespective of how well you speak, is if you have no clue what you're talking about. Expect this to happen if your motivations for being a lawyer or working in commercial law are unclear and underdeveloped, or if your commercial awareness is lacking. The only way to avoid this is to take the time and make the effort to reflect on your experiences and figure out your motivations and put the work into honing your commercial awareness. I highly recommend picking a minimum of one business story each day and analysing 1) what it's about 2) how this impacts law firms and their clients and 3) what lawyers can do to help their firms and clients overcome/maximise the potential of this impact.
- Accept that you're nervous- this is important because the more you try to fight the fact that you're going to be tested in an unfamiliar environment and this will likely make you nervous and anxious, the more nervous and anxious you will get about this fact. It's a vicious cycle and everyone falls victim to it from time to time! During your interview, keep some water next to you, take a few deep breaths and tell yourself that not only is it normal to trip up here and there while speaking, but that this is also expected. The whole point of an interview at the grad level is to see if you have the confidence to acknowledge where you've made a mistake and move on from it swiftly without letting it impact the rest of your performance. You have to know and register that even if you don't speak amazingly, you really do still have a good shot at getting the job if you're able to make the best of the chance you have left.
