I'm always writing about over-talking in interviews. Have you ever come away from an interview or presentation and thought to yourself, ‘Did I say too much?’ It's so easy, when you're in a tense situation, to get over-excited and just talk and talk and not take a breath – before you know it you've talked over the interviewer and not listened to the question properly. If you're not careful, you could have quite simply talked yourself out of a job. This is a common problem. We’re all guilty of it. Here are a few tips to help you stop talking away a job opportunity…
1. Reply with short answers to short questions like ‘How are you?’ and ‘How was your weekend?’ Understand that this kind of question is generally meant to acknowledge your presence, not to trigger a recitation of recent events in your life.
2. List 10 questions to ask about the role. This will stop you thinking that you need to talk endlessly to fill any awkward silences.
3. Trust the interviewer to ask follow-up questions if they want more details. You risk being a bore if you try to show off everything you know without being asked, but make sure your reply is full and to the point.
4. Look at the other person while you’re talking. You can tell whether he or she is interested in what you’re saying by noticing if she makes eye contact with you or looks elsewhere. If she is saying ‘Uh-huh’ repeatedly, she is probably bored but too polite to interrupt. Stop talking immediately and ask one of your 10 questions to draw the conversation back to the role under discussion.
5. Listen to the question being asked and don't be tempted to drift into answering something that wasn't asked. You’ll tie yourself into a knot that you can't get out of.
6. And, most importantly, when asked a question take a breath before you answer, ensuring that you’ve heard the question thoroughly and know how you're going to reply.
It's not easy to be this disciplined, but if you know you have a tendency to overtalk at interviews, at least you can be prepared and try your best not to do it.