A successful 60 Second Sell depends on your ability to deliver your response effectively in no more than a minute.

When really nervous, most job candidates tend to weave all over the road: they ‘hit the pedal to the metal’, drive way over the speed limit and spin out on a word-slick. Not glamorous or effective. Learning to do the 60 Second Sell effectively will curb wayward nerves and help you stay on track in a job  interview. Others suffer from a combination of stress effects like rushing and stuttering, or saying ‘um’ often. Do you?

Or perhaps you haven’t noticed! Most of us are unaware of our speech habits, Why? Because we can’t hear ourselves speaking because we’re too busy speaking. (Duh!) There’s only one way to become aware of your speech habits for sure:

Record yourself doing The Elephant Walk and Talk. What you hear back is what you sound like to an interviewer. Scary, huh? Take a few moments to really listen to yourself. Jot down your observations. How many times did you say ‘um’? How many times did you stumble on a word or search for one? Or perhaps you were mumbling,

What about your timing – were you a hare or a tortoise? Did you rush, rush, rush (like a mad bunny) and come in at 38 seconds? Were you slow and sluggish (like a sleepy tortoise) and come in at 1:20? Or were you somewhere in between?

Rush-bunnies, slow down! You’re probably speaking faster than you can think. Slowing your speech down to match the speed of your thoughts will make you sound more grounded, confident and credible. (Don’t worry – you won’t sound like Forrest Gump.)

Slow-pokes – focus on your flow. Are you taking pregnant pauses, searching for words, or are you rambling? Check the tape. It won’t lie if you listen to it objectively. If in doubt about your performance, play it for a colleague or a friend you trust and respect, and discuss your findings.

Here’s a tip to help you hit the 60 Second mark: In English, vowel sounds make up most of our words, and they are punctuated by consonants, stressed by syllables and organized by the silences and breaths between them. In order to articulate effectively, focus on extending your vowel sounds and making your consonants crisp. Rush-bunny or slow-poke: doing this will regulate your speech and make you sound more focused, articulate and professional.

What to do next?

Read the next interview coach article: No Lists, Please

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