Expert interviews 8 Practice

When interviewing, try to put down your notes

We're going to practice for your interview. You'll need to make sure you are prepared for this lesson. Your teacher will give you advice for preparation at the end of the last lesson.

Introduction

This lesson will give you a chance to practice conducting a mock interview from start to finish. You can spend as much or a little time as necessary on this lesson.

Warm Up

What kind of interview style do you have? Are you direct or indirect, relaxed to tightly wound, more friendly or more formal?

Check out these videos and examine the different styles of the interviewer.

This video of Bob Costas interviewing baseball player Mickey Mantle is a great example of the interviewer using a kind tone and polite questions. Mantle goes into detail about his many struggles. You can see Costas ask questions at 1:21, 5:38, or 10:55

This video of David Frost interviewing Richard Nixon is much more forceful. He directs Nixon to the question very specifically, and uses extremely confrontational body language.

Language

Take this time to check the interview questions you intend to ask. You can leave out names or numbers if you like.

Practice

Use the language we practiced through this course to do a natural interview from start to finish. You can choose to ask about a hobby or interest that you and your instructor have in common, or you can ask about a business topic that you are familiar with.

Your instructor will score your performance and give you feedback on how you can improve.