4. During the Interview

In this lesson, we will focus on communication during the interview and you will see how Amisi’s interview goes. You will have the chance to think through communication strategies during an interview, including the process of developing interview responses and conveying them clearly.

During the Interview

(To read along click here.)

The previous video touches on the collaborative form of expression, and focuses more on the authoritative form of expression. A job interview typically calls for an authoritative form of expression, used to establish professional expertise and demonstrate confidence.

Sherwood Fleming uses the CLEAR method to explain this approach to answering questions and demonstrating your experience.¹ CLEAR stands for: Convey, Link, Enact, Assert, and Repeat.

1. Convey your opinion concisely:

• Write down all of your opinions about a particular question.
• Cross out any opinions you don’t want to use.
• Select the three opinions you feel most strongly about.
• Write each one as a sentence, editing until each sentence is simple and concise. Be sure to use language you feel comfortable with.
• Arrange your opinions in order of importance and choose the first one.

2. Link to your listener’s concerns: 

• Ask yourself what the main priorities of your listener are as it relates to that particular interview question.
• Go through the same process as above until you have three clear sentences which you feel strongly describe your listener’s concerns. Choose the best option.

3. Enact your experiences:

• Bring your experiences to life by telling the listener a story that demonstrates step one and two above.
• Pick a story from your professional experience that you feel would be appropriate.
• Write down the parts of the story that illustrate steps one and two in point form.

4. Assert your authority:

• Ask yourself what opinions you would like your listener to form about you based on the story you shared.
• Write down the top three options and choose the best one. This will be the sentence you use to conclude your story.

5. Repeat your opinion:

• Conclude your answer by repeating the opinion you first expressed.

¹ Fleming, Sherwood. 2012. Dance of Opinions: Mastering Written and Spoken Communication for Intercultural Business Using English as a Second Language. Sherwood Fleming Communication.