Sophie Caldwell

You only have about 90 seconds to make a strong first impression in a job interview, says Columbia Business School professor Michael Chad Hoeppner. 

To engage and impress the interviewer quickly, think about the way you speak, Hoeppner wrote in his recent book, “Don’t Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life.” 

There are three easy ways to get a recruiter or hiring manager’s attention, he says. 

1. Start off strong. Your first question is often the most important, because the interviewer’s attention span will fade, Hoeppner says. To keep them listening, start your responses with a strong, visual anecdote. 
2. Focus on delivery. If you try to make your voice sound more professional and measured, you risk coming off robotic, he says. Instead, relax your posture, use body language like hand gestures when it feels natural to you, and speak as clearly and confidently as possible. 
3. Practice. The only way to become a more natural-sounding, confident speaker, is to practice, Hoeppner says. He recommends a method he calls “loud drafting.” Give yourself an open-ended prompt and answer it out loud. “The first time you do it, it will be bad,” he says. “That’s fine. Do it again, do it again, do it again.” 

The point of this exercise is to practice answering questions in a natural way, he says. Some job candidates prepare for interviews by jotting down prepared statements, but they frequently sound stiff and unnatural when said out loud.

“The way in which we speak is different than how we write,” he says. “Often, people open their mouths in interviews and a bunch of polysyllabic pablum comes pouring out of their mouth.”

In general, Hoeppner recommends “flexing your talking muscles” by chatting casually with people you meet and switching your phone calls to FaceTime.

According to Hoeppner, in-person communication skills will become increasingly important with the rise of AI technology. With almost-limitless access to information, Hoeppner asks, “what determines whose ideas get paid more attention?

His answer: “Very likely how you say them.”

CNBC