Stop Winging It and Start Scripting Your Stories

Looking for a job? Get ready to tell stories about yourself. That may seem obvious, yet few of the people I've interviewed in my life actually seemed to be prepared with concise, interesting stories read to go that will bring to life what they’ve done and the great things they bring to a job.

Lots of people figure they’ll just cross their fingers and wing it. They plan to just answer the questions they are asked and hope they don't blow it or freeze, and they remember to mention that thing that isn't on their resume. 

The approach it as if an interview is just going to be a simple Q&A where they can just wing it. And maybe they think, being overprepared is bad because it feels phony. 

Winging it is never a good interview strategy. 

In fact, the best way to prepare for interviews is the opposite of winging it... the best way to prepare is by actually scripting your stories.

In fact, I think it's really the most authentic thing you can do, to revisit the parts of your career that you will need to talk about, and to think it through and plan it so you are clear and succinct. 

To have a plan about what you're going to say.

Stories make your work experience come alive.

Most interviews today are built around "behavioral" questions, which are usually start with "Tell me about a time..." to have you talk about a situation that gives insight into  your work style and approach.

These questions are meant to be answered with a story, which, if you plan well, will bring depth and context to understanding your history and your capabilities. 

Stories are how you show you know what you're talking about, how your job fits with other jobs, how you handle challenges, and give the listener a chance to picture you doing your job.

Stories make you come alive to an interviewer.

And planning the ahead also makes you feel more relaxed and confident because you know you're ready with interesting responses, no matter what they ask you.

Stories are key to your success in interviews, and they take some planning.

Few things will bring more value to your interview impression than taking time to plan out your key talking points. 

I recommend starting by crafting at least 5 or 6 engaging, informative, and appropriate stories that you can pull out of your pocket in interviews. 

Planning your stories in advance has several advantages:

• You’ll refresh your own memory about the impressive things you’ve done in the past, so they're current in your mind and you can reframe them in the context of who you are now

• You can plan and refine how you tell each story so it makes sense and you're not rambling or leaving out important details or misstating anything

• You can prepare your strategy for how many different ways you can use each story so you're ready to repurpose it smoothly to illustrate a range of topics

• You can do the wordsmithing on how you answer tough questions in advance, so you feel fully ready when you’re talking about a negative or sensitive situation

• You’ll sound smarter and more confident because you'll be prepared, and your responses will quickly become second nature to you
  
  

Build your own portfolio of interview stories.

1. Find notable moments in your work history that make interesting stories.

Start by choosing five or six of the accomplishments you include in your resume.  These are things that make you look good and where you felt like your talents and knowhow made a real difference.

2. Script each story using the STARS method to tell a story.

Plan out word for word how to you're going to tell each story. Write it out, say it out loud, keep editing until it feels like your natural language. Make it conversational but to the point.

The STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Results) is a popular structure for answering interview questions and lets you tell a brief and focused story. Tell what the Situation was, what Task you'd been assigned to fix it, the Actions you took, and the Results of your actions. 

I like to add one more piece – Summary – to bring the attention back to the present job you’re interviewing for, so I call this method STARS.

So if one of your proud accomplishments is when you taught yourself a software in two days after the p

For example, let’s say one of your accomplishments is about the time you started a new job and on your second day, your boss quit, leaving you with a major client whose project was not complete, and who was very unhappy, and you saved the day.

Here’s how you might tell that story using the STARS method:

Situation  
Describe the situation you were in with some who-what-when-where details.

"I had been in my new job for only two days when my boss suddenly resigned and I was asked to take over a huge client who was angry because we had not met our delivery deadline. If we lost their business, we’d be in trouble and I was up to the challenge of proving that I could do it."

Task
Say what you were responsible for making happen.

"I had to get up to speed immediately about the client’s business and at the same time, I had to about how things worked at my own new company so I could figure out how to get the problem fixed and the product delivered.

I also  wanted to make sure that both our CEO and our big customer knew they could trust me to get the job done."

Action
Outline the specific actions you took, focusing on your skills and talents.

"I started by calling a meeting with the IT department and our head of customer service to get fully briefed on what had gone wrong. Then I met with the client, bringing representatives from our IT team to handle technical their questions. We reassured the client we would be able to fix the problem, and got our IT person to confirm it could be delivered in 30 days.

Then I created our internal delivery schedule and touched base with the teams every day to check progress and keep it on track." 

Results
What was the end result, in terms of numbers or other signs of success?

"We ended up delivering the product in just 28 days, 2 days ahead of schedule, and the customer went from furious to grateful and even wrote the CEO of my company a letter telling her that I had been the catalyst for getting the project complete."

Summary
Bring home the point with a summary that comes back to the job.

"That was a crazy four weeks, but I loved it and saving that client was a great way for me to prove my ability to tackle problems head on, get up to speed fast, bring people together to make a workable plan, and keep everyone on track to get it all done on schedule. These are my superpowers.

And that’s I'm so interested in your program manager position, because it sounds like it will use my ability to learn fast, bring people together, and deliver results." 

3. Practice, practice, practice.

Any actor will tell you that memorizing your script is the first step, but the magic happens when you are able to tell it as if the words are just rolling out naturally, and that takes practice.

Write your scripts down and try to memorize them. Practice and keep continuing to edit until the language sounds like you and the story feels easy and spontaneous. This way, you’ll sound prepared without sounding rehearsed, and you won’t get sidetracked or forget what you wanted to say.

4. Plan which stories you can use for different interview questions.

Once you script the story, make a list how many things you might use this story for.

A review of job requirements and company information should help you anticipate what questions you should be prepared to answer. 

Then, for each potential open-ended question you could be asked about your experience or abilities, think about which of your stories might work as a talking point to show what you've done.  

For example, in the STARS example above, where you saved a client after your boss quit 2 days after you got there, you could use that story to show how resourceful you are under pressure, how you gather input from different stakeholders on projects, how you are able to deal with difficult or unhappy clients to find solutions, and how well you facilitate work between different departments to meet deadlines -- and a whole slew of similar questions.

Just adapt the summary and the same story can work for multiple questions or jobs.

For example "... and that's why I'm interested in focusing my career in Customer Success, after getting a taste of solving a problem to make a key customer happier" or

"...and that's what I inspired me to pivot into project management, where I can keep all of the interconnected complicated details and cross-functional teams on the same page and moving forward."

5. Keep building your story repertoire.

Five or is a good number to start with for your job search story bag, but once you get the hang of the STARS method of interview storytelling, you can add more, as long as you keep them interesting, memorable and planned.

And some stories will age out or you'll find a better one to replace it as your career progresses. But once they're memorized and part of your repertoire, you may find yourself calling on them for years to come. 

Always keep in mind how to adapt each story so it works for a variety of questions and topics and you’ll find yourself with a new level of interview confidence.

Start with one story and you'll get the hang of it and I promise that when you prepare your stories and practice them, it becomes so much easier to interview.