How do I sound less 'robotic' ?
I've had about 20 informational interviews to date, and although I admit I stumbled through the first few, I thought I handled the other ones pretty well. In my most recent one, I asked for advice going forward and a guy in equity sales (someone I figure talks to people all day, for a living) told me I sounded a bit robotic on the phone. I think I agree with him, and notice I sound a bit more robotic than when talking to my friends, but I am at a loss as to how to deal with it. Whenever a guy finishes his answer, always feel a bit like a tool when I say something like "oh yeah, I've heard that from other guys too" and then awkwardly move onto my next question. Does anyone have any advice for how to bridge this gap?
Just relax. See interviews as focused focused conversation, not as a high pressure situation.
Yeah, thats what I try and do. I try to make as conversational as possible but I still get that awkward gap between the alum's answer and my next question. Everyone here says let the guy talk about himself as much as possible, so doesn't that mean I have to play the role of a CNBC reporter and just let him talk as much as possible? Maybe thats what keeps screwing me up.
If you sound robotic, that probably means you're asking the same questions each time, and you're just trying to get through the conversation. If that's the case, think about maybe throwing in a couple follow up questions during the conversation that's not what you had planned to ask. You have to be pretty good at improvising and know what you're talking bout, but if you can pull it off, you'll have better conversations.
The best advice I can give is to simply try to enjoy the interview. That may sound crazy, but if you have a genuine interest in the subject and the person you are having a conversation in then you should be able to emit a sense of enjoyment/intrigue.
It's easy to sound robotic if you have rehearsed questions and ask them questions like they're on 20/20. So try to expound on questions that you ask, and if they say something that interests you ask them to explain in more depth.
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