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I’ve coached many people in my lifetime.
Some call me spooky (I’m not). Others call me prescient (maybe). Some say they trust me completely and will do whatever I advise (I’m flattered).
That flattery likely comes from the fact they remember me. Nothing more. You can certainly debate whether my advice was correct, but it’d be futile to argue whether I left an impression.
What’s the secret to being unforgettable in the way everyone wants to be remembered?
Whether you’re creating a billboard, commercial, speech, school paper or answering someone’s question in a boardroom or job interview, there are five traits you must include when sending your message.
If you carefully consider these traits, you’ll notice they intersect the way the human mind works and the magnetic nature of one good marketing headline after another. For good measure, I tossed in few aids to help you compete with the human attention span that has somehow dwindled to the life expectancy of a fruit fly.
If you have a bit longer than three minutes, check out Interview Intervention: Communication That Gets You Hired . No need to reach for your wallet. I give it away because it’s the kinda guy I am.
Keep it short and simple . Antoine de Saint Exupéry once said, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” There is a big difference between providing a clean, thorough message and babbling on forever. Highlight only the necessary information. Don’t make people sift through the unnecessary information or ask them to retain it. That’s called a double owie. (I hope I didn’t use too many words to make my point.)
Capture and keep their attention . They can’t remember you if they’re not paying attention. First, you need to attract their attention and then you need to keep it. The easiest way to capture their attention is to break their thought patterns. Typically, you need to surprise them or make them think they’ll soon be surprised to interrupt the white noise in their heads. Once you have their attention, the easiest way to hold it is to keep them curious.
Related: Should You "Friend" the Job Interviewer?
Talk in their lingo . The concept is simple, but it’s one of the most difficult things for people to do. Why? Because as we evolve through life, we forget what it’s like not to know what we know. You need to think about what it is like to be the interviewers. You can also ask the interviewers the level of information that would be appropriate. Pay close attention to the depth and content of their questions. Speak in a manner that allows them to literally visualize what you’re describing.
Make them believe you . While talking in their lingo can be very difficult, getting them to believe you is much easier than it might sound. This comes down to sincerity and experience. There are many ways to make someone believe you, but I’d like to address the most direct—details and statistics! I don’t mean being verbose and violating our first principle of remaining brief. I mean sprinkle in specific information about how you did, solved, managed, or sold something. Provide the step-by-step process to make it easier for them to feel you actually lived the situation.
Get them to care . I believe people are generally good-hearted and willing to help in most cases, but when it comes to getting them to care absolutely nothing trumps self-interest. The easiest way to get them to care is to show the interviewers how hiring you benefits them. Of course, they care how hiring you benefits the company overall, but often the specific impact to them will carry more weight. As an example when interviewing with a superior, you might indicate that if you were hired, your skills are strong enough to help relieve her of some of her daily duties so she can focus on more strategic areas. You can find many more examples if you check out How to Get Them to Care .