#9 Give the gift of silence in your next interview
When you sit behind the mic, laptop screen or across the desk from your interviewee, they might be a little nervous.
Even if they have years of experience and you did everything possible as the interviewer to prepare them and make them comfortable – it will still be a slightly off-key experience for them.
The best thing you can do with any interviewee is give them the gift of silence.
Resist the urge to cut across them or fill the vast pauses with prompts or further questions.
Silence creates a vacuum and most times the interviewee will fill them, caving to some kind of deep-seated social conditioning that abhors the quietness.
Even if the interviewee offers a fantastic answer to a question, let the silence linger before you move on.
As the cogs in their brain whir a little longer, another response might emerge which takes you in an entirely unexpected but fascinating direction.
A pause might let struggling interviewees clarify their thoughts and improve their contribution to a certain topic.
And it benefits you as the interviewer as well.
The space in between lets you read the vibe of the conversation, make connections and engage with better questions or more thoughtful prompts.
For all involved in the interview process, silence is your friend.
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Benjamin Craske
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