The wedding toast, first attempt and second attempt
Listener Daniela has her sister's wedding in ten days and a speech that runs eleven minutes. Jorge cuts it to three, fixes the opening, and you hear the difference in her second take.
Tell me about yourself: the interview answer that loses the job
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Show notes
Forty five seconds, then stop
Omar, a software tester from Tijuana, has an interview on Friday. Jorge asks him the first question every interviewer asks, tell me about yourself, and Omar talks for four minutes. This episode is about why that loses the room and what to say instead.
- The three-part shape: now, before, why here
- Why 45 seconds is longer than it sounds
- Ending your answer with a question that hands the floor back
- Breathing when the interviewer's face gives you nothing
Solo segment: what to do with your hands when there is a table and when there is not. Omar's second take is recorded the same afternoon.
Transcript
Welcome back to Say It Like You Mean It, I am Jorge Belmonte Arriaga. Today's listener is Omar, a software tester in Tijuana, and he has a job interview on Friday. I asked him the question every interview starts with: tell me about yourself. He spoke for four minutes and eleven seconds. I timed it. He covered his secondary school. That answer is costing people jobs every single day, so we are going to rebuild it into 45 seconds with a shape you can memorise: now, before, why here. Then we add the trick that very few candidates use, which is ending your answer with a question of your own. You will hear Omar's first version, the coaching, and the version he recorded that same afternoon. Also, a short segment on hands. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
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