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Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

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Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#71

Post by larrywright »

publicola1990 wrote: post #4
muzani wrote: post #2

Preparation. Anyone who has done public speaking knows that it's a lot of work to be a good speaker. Neil DeGrasse Tyson says you have to be 10x more prepared than you need to be. He calls it his Batman utility belt. You anticipate every question you'll get and do your research. One interviewer asked Neil whether it was worth the $3B mission to Saturn. He brought up that it's $3B over 12 years and that it's how much…

But some people seems so at ease with spontaneity, dealing with dynamic, emergent conversations, and even the ability to direct it to particular directions or narratives. I doubt all of it is preparation.

This is actually a symptom of ADHD, something to do with working memory I believe.

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#72

Post by idoh »

corrral wrote: post #60
idoh wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fluid as in able to easily apply MECE to conversations. I guess being fluid with the application of MECE will lead to more fluent conversations. They both have the same latin root. edit - updated the GP to make it clear that I was talking about being fluid in applying MECE to a given domain, which could be written or oral.

OK, cool, thanks—I wasn't asking to nitpick, but because I really wasn't sure whether it was a mistake, or a neologistic/jargon usage I was unfamiliar with.

Even if you were nitpicking then that's OK. On Hacker News we critique the words and not the person, right?

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#73

Post by hintymad »

There are two frameworks. I'd suggest you combine both. The first one is STAR: situation, tasks, action, and results. The second one is used by product managers a lot: MECE, or mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive. Use the first framework for your narrative with a focus on why, or so-called working backwards. Use the second framework to narrow down what you need to dive deep.

I can't stress enough how important it is to work backwards and explain the why of your work. Too many geeks mistake claims for reasons, and got dragged into irrelevant details to the point that their work appears irrelevant too. On the other hand, the bigger a problem, a more impressive a solution. If you can articulate why you're solving a problem and why you solved it in the way you described, people can probably figure out the how part easily.

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#74

Post by scrozier »

unsupp0rted wrote: post #44
muzani wrote: post #2

Preparation. Anyone who has done public speaking knows that it's a lot of work to be a good speaker. Neil DeGrasse Tyson says you have to be 10x more prepared than you need to be. He calls it his Batman utility belt. You anticipate every question you'll get and do your research. One interviewer asked Neil whether it was worth the $3B mission to Saturn. He brought up that it's $3B over 12 years and that it's how much…

> He calls it his Batman utility belt. You anticipate every question you'll get and do your research. Part of the reason Neil DeGrasse Tyson is so painful to watch/listen to (especially on his recent appearances) is that this over-preparation or expectation of specific talking points comes off as smugness, interrupting behavior, etc... is it this which hurts the flow of conversation and even seemed to exasperate Joe…

Thank you! I've always found DeGrasse Tyson unbearable. He's clearly a very smart guy, but as a communicator of the people? Not at all sure why he's so popular. That clip is positively grotesque.

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#75

Post by larrywright »

iovrthoughtthis wrote: post #10
publicola1990 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But some people seems so at ease with spontaneity, dealing with dynamic, emergent conversations, and even the ability to direct it to particular directions or narratives. I doubt all of it is preparation.

4 things help for me: 1. i like myself regardless of if this other person likes me 2. i will be fine, even if i fuck this up 3. every time im asked is an opportunity to practice, tweak something 4. write what you've been up to down it's like rapping tbh. you learn snippets and lines that work and then you mix and match them for the context. you don't want to be deciding word by word but phrase by phrase.

The last time I was interviewing I wrote out a narrative about my skills and experience. Basically a short bio, but also what roles I’d had in my current job, what technologies and practices I had used, some highlights of major projected, etc. I didn’t read it word for word but just having it up on my screen during phone interviews helped. Before in person interviews I’d review it a few times.

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#76

Post by dagmx »

publicola1990 wrote: post #4
muzani wrote: post #2

Preparation. Anyone who has done public speaking knows that it's a lot of work to be a good speaker. Neil DeGrasse Tyson says you have to be 10x more prepared than you need to be. He calls it his Batman utility belt. You anticipate every question you'll get and do your research. One interviewer asked Neil whether it was worth the $3B mission to Saturn. He brought up that it's $3B over 12 years and that it's how much…

But some people seems so at ease with spontaneity, dealing with dynamic, emergent conversations, and even the ability to direct it to particular directions or narratives. I doubt all of it is preparation.

There's definitely an art to seeming spontaneous and conversational, but it really comes down to practice.

The thing is that some of us get practice from just our upbringing and life experiences, others may not have that. So for those others, it's about identifying where they can bolster things and practice.

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#77

Post by crispyambulance »

sintMaartin wrote: post #31

What I have realised is that there is no trick or shortcut to communicate better. You have to read more, be more knowledgeable, practice speaking and writing, then you will have more intelligent things to say. Also the fear of making mistake is what holds back. To let creativity flourish you have to let yourself go, not be afraid of being wrong, not be afraid of opening up or be judged. For that you also need to have…

Mostly agree, however, it's NOT necessarily the case that the OP is "trying to be someone they're not".

Communication takes practice and experience. Not everyone has enough of that and it's especially hard for folks who are not using their native language.

One thing that helps, in many scenarios, is to "take turns" driving the discussion. The OP could be more forward about asking questions and making commentary. It's never all about "logical flow and coherence". It's more about opening up a line of inquiry with the other person and relating to them on a human level.

Re: Ask HN: How to talk with logical flow and coherence at interviews?

#78

Post by glitchc »

jrh206 wrote: post #61
unsupp0rted wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He calls it his Batman utility belt. You anticipate every question you'll get and do your research. Part of the reason Neil DeGrasse Tyson is so painful to watch/listen to (especially on his recent appearances) is that this over-preparation or expectation of specific talking points comes off as smugness, interrupting behavior, etc... is it this which hurts the flow of conversation and even seemed to exasperate Joe…

Those clips are painful. DeGrasse Tyson interrupts Rogan right before important words - punchlines. For instance, in the first clip, Rogan begins “what’s interesting is that the town is -”, and DeGrasse Tyson takes that moment to pattern break: “wait, wait, wait, have you seen that they did Starry Night in bacon?!”. Rogan blinks, stunned. His point about the town lost forever. Regardless, it’s possible to be well pre…

This might be on purpose, especially if Mr. Rogan is pandering to the audience and Dr. Tyson is aware of his behavior.
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