How to prepare for a big interview

Got an important interview coming up? Do you need to:

• get a glowing testimonial from a major client?

• unravel the latest strategy from your CEO?

• go one-on-one with an influencer, with thousands of followers?

I get it. Hello sleepless nights…

In 2015, I had the privilege of sitting down to interview one of the world’s broadcasting giants, Sir David Attenborough — a man who had just been interviewed by President Barack Obama. To say my stomach was knotted up with nerves as I sat down with my clipboard is an understatement.

More about that conversation in a moment

In the meantime, I’ll be honest. I still get nervous before any professional interview. Whether I’m talking to an MD, a key client, or a charity volunteer, I don’t want to let any of them down.  

And if I’m interviewing on behalf of a client, rather than on behalf of myself, I don’t want to disappoint them either.

Yay. Double the pressure!

So, when I have an interview coming up, this is how I prepare. I hope some of this helps you too, in the run up to, and on the big day.

1 - warm yourself up with research

Try not to go in cold. You probably can’t speak to your interviewee beforehand. And you might not be able to contact anyone who knows them.  But it’s worth looking them up on their website and social media. And check for any media coverage they’ve had.

What you’re doing is warming yourself up. You want the conversation to feel, from your side at least, like you already have a sense of who this person is and how they communicate. That reassurance alone can take the edge off your nerves.

2 - prepare and print your questions

Once you’ve done your research write your questions and print them before the day itself. Printers have a habit of failing at the worst possible moment. The paper jams.  With only ten minutes to spare, you find yourself conducting the equivalent of open-heart surgery on a machine that’s making an awful groaning sound.  Learn from my bitter experience. Have a hard copy to hand.

3 - treat it like a live performance

For me, high-stakes interviews are like a live event or a race. I try to get a good night’s sleep beforehand. Or at least get to bed by 10pm, if I know that my nerves will wake me up early. I need to be alert when I’m interviewing. And if I’m too tired I won’t be able to listen as intently.

4 – time it right (if possible)

If you can, try to schedule the interview at your best time of day. If you’re an early bird, like me, that will mean before 2pm. Of course, this isn’t always possible.  Remote interviews mean you might be working across different time zones: up with the lark for one zone, and doing your night owl impression for another.  In which case, point 3 – getting enough rest – is even more important!

5 – set it up the day before

If your desk or home office setup won’t be disturbed overnight, set it all up the day before. That might mean:

• putting your printed questions on a clipboard, so they’re easy to see

• having any headline notes to hand 

• checking the link works on the Calendar invitation, and testing your laptop video and audio at the same time  

• plugging in your USB camera/microphone (if you have them) and making sure you’ve selected them from the dropdown menu.

Knowing it’s ready to go means you’re not rushing around on the morning of the interview. If your conversation isn’t until later, have your printed questions/mic/camera ready somewhere on the side lines. Then you can just grab them when the time comes.

Right before your interview

Try to remove every possible distraction, so that when you sit down to talk, your head is clear to listen:

• switch on your laptop early, just in case the platform you’re using decides to install an update

• turn off all desktop notifications

• close every tab or application you don’t need

• put your phone on airplane and focus mode.

Build in a ‘buffering’ zone

I try to set aside 15 minutes of ‘white space’ in my diary, before I officially start.

I click on the ‘join’ link, so I spend a few minutes in what I call the ‘buffering zone’. Use it to:

•  check you’re happy with how you, and your background, look

•  go back over your questions and key notes

•  be ready if your interviewee joins early.

Prepare, and you free yourself up to listen

What you do in the days before, and on the morning of a big interview — the research, the printed questions, the laptop and phone checks — is not about the mechanics.

It’s really about:  

• clearing your brain, so you can give your interviewee your whole attention, listening intently.

• building your confidence, by taking control of as many things as you can. You can’t control the conversation itself. (Nor would you want to.) But you do have some influence over things that might otherwise distract you, and prevent you from making the most of your interviewee’s answers.

Back to that big interview

What I’ve outlined above is for remote video interviews. But when I met Sir David, I was lucky enough to be in the same room as him. There were also several other important people watching me. They were all very friendly. But together they represented an intimidating chain of accountability, which added to the pressure:

1.    The ultimate client, an important representative from the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts.  It was being re-named after Sir David’s brother, Richard.  

2.    The director of the production company working for this client, standing right behind me.

3.    Oh, and the interviewee himself. Did I say that his last conversation was with the then President of the United States, Barack Obama?  I think I did.

By then my mind was a whirlwind of nerves.  Headteacher-like commands were ringing in my head:

“Don’t let your client down by asking a silly question and wrecking their relationship with Sir David.

“Don’t muck it up for your client’s client: this is the flagship video for the newly named Arts Centre.

“Oh, and don’t look stupid in front of the country’s most brilliant broadcaster, whose documentaries are loved by millions all over the world.”  

And then filming started

Yes, I was prepared.  I had done my homework.  My most important questions - the ones I knew I needed to get answers for – were highlighted in yellow. My phone was switched off. 

But the surrealness of the situation made me talk in a voice that was a couple of octaves higher than my usual delivery.  I was definitely squeakier than Obama….

Then, once Sir David started speaking and I pushed my nerves aside to listen, things changed. When he began to talk about his brother Richard, I found myself drawn into a world of childhood theatrics, parental pressure, and brotherly admiration that I hadn’t anticipated.

He described how, as young boys, the two brothers had dressed up as char ladies — ‘the ladies what come to oblige’ — and put on shows for charity. He spoke about their father, a scholarly academic who couldn’t understand why his firstborn son, Richard, kept failing his exams. “He was failing, of course,” David said, “because he was spending all his time in the theatre.”

I wasn’t thinking about being nervous anymore. I was listening to a man sharing something tender about his brother. The preparation had done its job. It had given me a foundation and a rough route map. Once I started focussing on my interviewee and immersing myself in his answers, the worries evaporated.

That is what you are preparing for. Clearing your head so you can be really present, in the moment.