Tips to communicate effectively at Civil Services Interview

Tips to communicate effectively at Civil Services Interview

Effective communication is the key to getting successful in a personality test. At the Civil Services Interview, your communication skill is given importance and hence you must prepare yourself to portray a positive image in front of the interview board. Poor speech can knock you out even if what you meant to say was absolutely correct and to the point. If the person at the other end cannot decipher what you mean to say, it is right then when the essence of the entire conversation is lost. Miscommunication leads to losses and the interview board understands that well so your excuse of being nervous when you fluttered in your speech is not acceptable in the personality test. Here are some communication tips that you must follow to get along well during the interview:

Clarity of words

You are aware of the similar sounds that some words in English produce like “hill” and “heal”. You are aware that the two have difference in pronunciation and you know well how each of them are pronounced yet during a speech it is more than often that you would pronounce such words in the same way even without noticing. Take time and speak the words clearly unless you want the interviews to judge you to have poor pronunciation skills. There is no taking this aspect for granted since some of the most talented people out there are still facing this problem and there is a good chance that you are one of them.

Stop hurrying

Clarity of words and sentences that you utter can only be determined if you relax and slow down your speed of speech. You are not running a marathon and there is no judging you by how fast you finished your speech so just slow down and speak clearly. Finish your words and sentences well and give up sloppy speech habits. Sloppy speech is harder to understand and in the meanwhile the essence of what you were trying to tell in your answer will be lost. If you ever thought that calling “ol” instead of “old” or “goin” instead of “going” was cool, it’s high time that you remind yourself that these people in front of you are not there to know how chilled you are – get into proper business conversation practice and speak as a professional perfectionist would.

Practice speech

Practice makes a man perfect is still the valid old saying and you must put this into effect to improve on your communication skills. Remember, there is no giving up to learning and there is no learning everything as well. You must practice reading the newspaper or an article aloud and try making your speech clearer and better. You can take help from friends and known people that could help you in the process. Do not ever underestimate your strength and never get too arrogant if your speech sounds like perfect – make it even more perfect.

Be professional at all times

The first few questions shall be asked with an intention of making you feel comfortable, but you must maintain the same professionalism during the entire interview. It does not really matter if your choice of words are bigger, better and new, you wills still need to handle them in a professional way.

Good pronunciation

We all think we are good at pronunciations by the time we are about to sit for a big interview such as this but the fact is that we can all make mistakes at pronunciations. Practice speech aloud and let someone else hear you do that. Make sure the person who assists you during the speech practice is an elocution or debate expert. They can help you know your common pronunciation mistakes which you can practice and improvise.

Positivity

Your statements should always be positive and you must try avoiding negativity in your conversation. A statement can be said in both ways and with the same meaning but good effect comes when your statement has positive instincts in them. Stick to neutral statements when you cannot avoid negativity completely. Do not bring up issues with negative effect and controversial nature unless the question asks you to do so; they are likely to turn off the mood of the interviewer.

Do not interrupt

Being a good listener is also a skill you will need to posses if you want to do well in the interview. Do not interrupt when the interviewer is speaking or talking amongst themselves. Listen carefully and answer only after the interviewer has finished speaking. This will show that you have a calm mind and you can be patient whenever required. Your interruption can distract the interviewer from the topic he was about to bring up in the coming question; this will create negative impression about you.