WHY STORIES WORK

‘Tell stories instead of giving scripted answers,’ writes career coach Sital Ruparelia, ‘authentic stories tailored to individual roles and employers.’

You might feel uncomfortable with the idea of stories, either because you’re not a natural raconteur or because stories seem a long way from the hard world of business and facts. Think again. We’re not talking about ‘telling stories’ in the sense of telling lies. Well-rounded examples command attention, and wake up even the most jaded interviewer. The ‘story’ aspect to interviews has two important dimensions:

1. Short mini-narratives work because they engage, entertain, and like all stories are memorable. We like stories and remember them better than bald facts. We like good yarns and pass them on to other people.
2. Interviewers are generally more comfortable if the job on offer fits into your overall ‘career story’.

Stories are not just memorable, but draw you into another world for a few moments. When you’re drawn in you start to ‘picture the scene’ – in other words, really visualise someone else’s experience. This helps in the subtle art of impression management where you are working hard to get an interviewer to picture you doing the job.

Narratives also form bonds between speaker and listener – while enjoying the story you really see the perspective of the person telling it. Once you inhabit someone else’s point of view, it’s hard not to align yourself in other ways too, seeing how much you have in common.

FINDING SAFETY IN STORYLINES

Narratives are easier to remember than facts, so allow you to move smoothly and quickly into answer mode. Imagine you’re asked the question ‘How do you manage difficult customers?’ What happens next? Your brain isn’t like a hard drive, flicking instantly to a data file. You’re rapidly thinking: ‘What can I remember? Is it relevant, interesting? Will it survive a round of probing questions?’ On the surface you may maintain swan-like elegance, but below the water you are paddling fast. By the time a reasonable answer emerges, what has happened? You’ve lost focus on the all-important task of maintaining rapport with the interviewer.

Know where the story is going before you open your mouth. This does not mean having every sentence pre-recorded in memory – that makes you sound like an answering machine. However, it helps to have key phrases ready, particularly for beginnings, endings, and where you talk about achievements. If you know you are going to be asked about dealing with under-motivated colleagues, it’s no good planning in a general way (‘I guess I’ll say something about my coaching experience’) – plan for the actual words you will use (‘I’ve had the opportunity to coach several members of my team who were demotivated and under-performing. My approach was ...’).

Narrative-rich evidence helps people remember you, but only if the stories feel like they’re yours. Edinburgh-based career coach Margaret Middlemiss writes: ‘I find that people go to interviews and leave their personality behind, trying very hard to remember the “buzz words” and talk in a language they think the company wants to hear or say what the textbook says. This doesn’t come across as genuine.’

MATCH STORIES CAREFULLY

Learn how to stress different parts of the story in response to different questions. Build a story around key areas. Like any good communicator, tailor your material to the needs of your audience – be firmly in control of your ‘edit’, ‘pause’ and ‘stop’ buttons in the interview room.

While the biggest danger in interviews is lack of preparation, there are dangers with stories that are too polished. Accomplished narrators can sometimes entertain themselves too much and not know when to stop. Jane Downes, author of The Career Book, writes of the dangers of ‘being over-scripted and over-reliant on a certain suite of questions coming your way. Give the interviewers a whiff that you’re trying to prompt their questions in a pre-ordained direction, and you’ve succeeded in alienating them. Show discomfort when they throw you a curve ball, and you’ve lost serious credibility.’

HR consultant Karen Kinnear says: ‘The big issue with candidates who have not been interviewed for some time and who have just read up on competency-based interviews is they sometimes group their interview “stories” under competency headings. For example, they will have a couple of “stories” prepared that they feel demonstrate strong leadership skills and use them whether or not the examples fit the question being asked. Be aware that your stories provide evidence of a range of competencies, so it is important to listen carefully to the question being asked and choose the most relevant story.’

LEARN THE NARRATOR’S ART

• The voice matters. You wouldn’t entertain friends with a story told in a monotone, matter-of-fact manner. A good storyteller uses a tone of voice that is really saying ‘listen carefully, because I am going to tell you something very interesting’. Rehearse good opening and linking phrases, and even the odd cliff-hanger (e.g. ‘what happened next knocked me for six’).
• Tell the story from the inside. A tale is told from a particular point of view, either by someone who was present when events happened, or by a narrator. Clearly in an interview you need to sound like someone right at the centre of events.
• An arresting opening grabs the attention. Think about the opening words you use to tell a story related to a skill. There’s a big difference between ‘I used communication skills when ...’ and ‘Let me tell you about a time I was thrown in the deep end’.
• Jump straight into the story. In interviews most candidates spend too long setting the scene. Tell the story of the problem, certainly (‘We had to make a big impact quickly with no budget’), but don’t bore the listener with excessive background information (‘My department is part of a larger division with a matrix management structure ...’). Focus on what you hope will be remembered.
• Make your material come alive. Use the present tense sometimes (‘so I’m in the control room and all the red lights have come on at the same time ...’).
• Move from familiarity into strangeness. Begin with shared ground, and then take the listener into new territory (for example, describe a familiar scenario such as a difficult customer, but then show how you tried a fresh approach).
• Invite the listener in. The big idea behind storytelling isn’t information, but sharing, inviting people in. We tell people stories because we want to make them welcome and feel included through a sense of openness, and the story should do that for you. Try using phrases like ‘I don’t know if you’ve ever been in this situation, but ...’
• A telling phrase helps to pinpoint what you are trying to say. Avoid clichés such as ‘bottom line’ or ‘turned the business around’, but find words that capture what was going on in fresh language that brings events to life.
• Draw a picture. Rather than saying ‘We had a meeting’, say ‘It was 6.30pm and there were seven of us crammed in a small office throwing in suggestions – it was wild, but it worked.’
• Don’t try to be more important than the story. As candidates start to become confident they begin to embellish stories and throw in asides. If the details are not part of the story, keep them out. Don’t tell more stories than the interviewer needs to hear, and don’t hog the stage for too long.
• Every audience is different. Stories don’t work all the time, and every listener is different. Some people will clearly be drawn in and engaged, others will be more distant. Also, don’t judge your impact on lack of feedback – the interviewer may still remember every word.

ROSE-TINTED ANSWERS

As Chapter 16 on probing questions outlines, too many candidates show every event through rose-tinted glasses. Have a few examples up your sleeve of times things went wrong; for example, a time you worked in a dysfunctional team or with a difficult customer.

The reason these answers work better is obvious in story terms. Stories work well where there is drama, conflict and opposition. Narratives that don’t include this and move simply from problem to solution quickly bore us. Since we find a diet of happy endings unconvincing and dull, vary your approach. Talk about times when things were difficult or didn’t have a great conclusion. Make sure you rehearse these tales, because a rough-cut, improvised answer could simply semaphore a message of incompetence.

However, a story which shows you adapting to circumstances and making the most of a difficult situation will always sound more convincing and will be more memorable; they also show important qualities including a sense of perspective, the ability to learn from experience, and an understanding that you can’t win in every situation.

Career coach Kate Howlett has developed an exciting model around storytelling and I am delighted to reprint it below. If at first it seems slightly fanciful, remember that this approach has achieved great results with the most hard-nosed clients.