4 Strategies Confident People Use to Attract Attention during Interviews

You can act confident even when you are not.

I walked into the waiting room, pulled up my laptop, and started going through my presentation one more time.

I had spent the last 48 hours practicing my speech, getting familiar with hand gestures and other body language to appear confident and professional.

A five-star hotel was looking for an advertising agency to promote their new club. My team had won the in-house competition, so my Director appointed me to represent our company. It wasn’t my first time undertaking such projects or speaking with clients, but this time was different.

This was a million-dollar corporation, and the CEO, a 64-year old native American, was a force to be reckoned with. I had read stories of him to prepare myself for what to expect. If I wanted to rub shoulders with the elites, this job was definitely one that aced that dream.

We were about seven people in the room waiting to be called in to present our proposal for the club launch. The other applicants were sitting silently behind me. The woman beside me tried to initiate a conversation with me. We were the only women out of the seven applicants. We shared little talks to ease our nerves.

Shortly, the secretary, a tall and dull young man in his thirties, came out from the conference room and called my number. I picked up my stuff and followed him.

My body was covered with chills as I entered the conference room. I felt like I was in the presence of royalty. The recruitment was by special invites only so only the top executives were conducting the interview.

Everyone in the room was wearing exquisite perfume. Their suits were finely polished. The aura in that room was intimidating.

I froze as I sank into my chair next to the CEO by my right. Another top execute was seating by my left, a goofy but subtle Southern middle-aged man. He was the only one that smiled at me when I walked towards him.

Take your audience by surprise

I tried to compose myself, shoulders high and tight. My two hands stretched on my knees. My legs were stiff. I was smiling like a fish out of water. The silence was getting awkward. I cleared my throat, looking towards the CEO, expecting him to begin with the first question.

After was seemed like forever, he finally spoke to me. With a straight face, he said, “You are not what I expected.”

Gush! I wished the ground should open and swallow me right there.

I looked around me to see the expression on the other board members. That’s when I realized I was the only woman in the room. Not only that, I was the only black person there too. I was confused as to what he meant. My first thought was, “what was he expecting?”

I was pretty sure my nervousness was obvious, so it could be that my lack of confidence positioned me as an amateur. But I wasn’t sure if he meant my race or gender, maybe all of the above.

Instead of asking the obvious question that was on my mind, I readjusted my posture, gave him an amusing smile, then I responded, “I get that a lot. Have you ever heard of Phil Mickelson?”

He was shocked at the sudden change in my demeanor. He shuddered in his chair, twisted his neck to the side, but remained silent. I noticed his expression changed from that of irritation to curiosity.

Now that’s a good girl, Jess! I said to myself as I continued to tell my story of the undefeated Awarding winning golf player.

Phil lived big, played big, and certainly had strong popularity in the golf game he was starting to play by imitating his father with left hands, although he was right-handed.

The fun side about playing with big players like Phil Mickelson is you learn your strengths, from the short game to iron play to how he approaches the game. How he breaks a golf course down and how he uses his strength to attack a golf course.

“One of the players got intimidated by Phil’s talent and wanted to know how he hits his shot every time. No one matches his short game around the green. Phil bends over the guy and says, ‘You putt it.’ I bet he thinks his Albert Einstein for having a golf IQ that is off the chart.”

With that last joke, everyone in the room started laughing. That was when I noticed how charming the CEO was, even though he isn’t what I would call handsome. I had completely turned the atmosphere in the room to be fun and comfortable.

Take advantage of your charms

My confidence got a boost, and I was ready to present my deal as I had originally planned. I complimented the executive sitting beside the CEO because he seemed to be in a hurry to get back to the reason that brought me there.

I didn’t wait for the laughter to fade before I proceeded to summarize what I intended to do for the club’s success. When I was done speaking, the executives started whispering to one another. I watched as they nodded and raised their eyebrows.

Then the CEO permitted me to show my proposal. Now he seemed more relaxed and polite. Gotcha! Another point for me. I opened my laptop and began my presentation.

I’m flirtatious. I look sexy when I am speaking enthusiastically, so I decided to throw in my charms. I got up, walked around the table, circulating the proposal to each person in the room. I tried to maintain eye contact, looking directly into their eyes while speaking.

Have you ever watched Craig Ferguson show? You would notice how he easily flirts with his audiences — throwing in-jokes here and there to lighten up the mood. That was what I did, either using funny quotes, raising my eyebrows, and gesturing with my hands, but being professional so I don’t appear slutty.

Emphasize the benefits of your project

As much as I enjoyed flirting with the gentlemen in the room, I remained on point all through my conversation. I elaborated on our targeted marketing audience — their age, income range, problems, and how the club will solve them.

I also cited statists about the demographics of our audience, so the problem the audience was facing seemed more tragic. Some benefits our competition had reported following a similar marketing strategy.

What we intend to surpass our competition’s results. And why our marketing plan is more persuasive and constructive than the hotel’s current marketing portfolio.

Then I went further to show the campaign’s theme, samples of flyers and banners, various digital and native marketing platforms, and email marketing strategies that will be most effective for our retargeting campaign and the estimated cost of the project.

I made sure to stick to “we” and “our” pronouns because it made me stand out like I was already working for the company rather than an applicant for the job.

Ask questions and take feedbacks

“The most beautiful thing you can wear is confidence.”

Blake Lively was right. I can’t express how proud of me I was that day. I started off as a cold chicken; now I’m here turning heads and swinging legs.

Even if I dn’t get the job, I was happy I wasn’t leaving that room sulking. That feeling of enchantment radiated the entire atmosphere.

When I was done presenting my PowerPoint, I summarized with a short story of a retired couple suffering who had vascular diseases but had no idea how to improve their metabolism at zero cost. Then I recommended the exercise plan the club will provide and how to cover the couple’s expenses.

I walked back to my chair, pulled it forward, so I leaned slightly closer to the CEO and asked if he had any questions for me.

In between my answers, I would throw in a short joke to keep my confidence up. I intended to make my presence memorable, and I did.

I got the job and the boss

I didn’t anticipate the CEO to be a friendly man, but he surprised me. He looks at me and says, “You’re a smart kid. We will get in touch with your company.”

Oh! Did I just get a compliment from the Boss? Sure I did.

They awarded my company the contract and requested that I be on the team working with their sales department. That got me close to the CEO.

When we started dating, I found out why he made the comment that I wasn’t what he had expected. I wasn’t going to let that slide.

The man was a racist and white supremacist. Also, he was damn stingy. If I was going to tolerate his abuses and degradation, I should at least be compensated for my time.

But that didn’t happen. Slowly I started going cold on him until he got the message and stopped calling on me.

So the next time you are preparing for an interview or presentation, remember that the people you’re speaking to care more about what you have to say rather than how you look.

Always have a few jokes up your sleeves to break any awkward silence. Use your charms to get over your nervousness. There is something that attracts people to you. It could be your jokes or stories or your curiosity to learn about others.

Try to be honest with your emotions. Don’t fake your smile or pretend to care when listening because people hate when you pretend to be who you are not.

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