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I am one week away from final round. What are some quick ways to be concise?

I am one week away from final round. My answers both in personal experience and the case are lengthy and NOT concise. What are some quick ways to be concise? 

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Moritz
Coach
edited on Jan 09, 2022
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | High impact sessions + FREE materials & exercises

What a great question! I once suffered from the same problem, which is essentially rambling. 

However, I managed to get control of this by doing two things:

  • Speak very slow: Slowing down forces you to be more concise and makes you come across more controlled. For practice purposes, slow down to the point that it uncomfortable and film yourself. When viewing, you´ll see that it probably sounds surprisingly good and not as awkward as you thought.
  • Internalize top down communication: Most people generally verbalize a stream of consciousness and speak whatever comes to their mind (albeit with somewhat of a structure). As a result, you´ll end up rambling and don´t know when to stop. Top down communication is the exact opposite as you organize your speech, which makes it much easier to follow and is ultimately much more efficient.

Lastly, and this should go without saying, cut down the responses that you are clearly preparing already. Meaningful de-wording is what we called this at McKinsey. Works on slides and verbally.

Please let me know if you´d like to learn more, I have great sympathy for your challenge and would be happy to help!

Clara
Coach
on Jan 10, 2022
McKinsey | Awarded professor at Master in Management @ IE | MBA at MIT |+180 students coached | Integrated FIT Guide aut

Hello!

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Ian
Coach
edited on Jan 07, 2022
Top US BCG / MBB Coach - 5,000 sessions |Tech, Platinion, Big 4 | 9/9 personal interviews passed | 95% candidate success

Hi there,

It's easy to make something complicated, hard to make something simple. How to fix this?

Remember the objective/question - If they ask a question, listen intently and lead with an answer. When working through the case, remember everything you do should be focused on the objective

Take a few seconds - gather your thoughts. Perhaps write them down. Take a quick breather to better formulate and then articulate your thoughts

  1. Pause before speaking to gather your thoughts - the time may feel like forever for you, but it's not nearly as long as you think. Leverage filler sentences such as "that's and interesting point" to buy some time if needed.
  2. Frame your answer - Generally, MBBers say "There are 3 parts to this". Then, they highlight in 1 sentence each of the 2-4 points
  3. Iterate through each point - After framing how you're going to answer the question, then answer it by diving into each "part" in the order you summarized each.

Signpost - If needing to communicate multiple things, first state those x things! Then, afterwards, dive into each. So "I"m thinking about this in 3 ways. Way A, Way B, and Way C. In terms of Way A...."

Remember less is more - Think about longer sentences/phrases you use. Reflect on how to make them shorter. Much like you edit an essay, edit your speaking. Why use 5 words when a well-placed single word encompases that? Build your vocabulary (especially business vocabularly) to be able to use key words instead of wasting time "explaining" a concept

Practice with a coach - Other PrepLounger are fantastic practice but they are generally too nice! you need a coach who will really hit back and work with you to improve your

Hagen
Coach
on Jan 06, 2022
#1 recommended coach | >95% success rate | 8+ years consulting, 8+ years coaching and 7+ years interviewing experience

Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on passing the first interview round!

This is indeed an interesting question which is probably relevant for quite a lot of users, so I am happy to provide my perspective on it:

  • Generally speaking - and this is independent of you talking lengthy and inconsise - I would advise you to take a second and think about your answer instead of starting right away. You may as well practice this in your daily communication and force yourself to truly pause for a second. You will notice than nobody will notice at all.
  • Moreover, I would advise you to force yourself to speak slower. When you are nervous, it is normal to talk even faster and lengthier. By slowing down your normal speed of talking, this effect will become smaller as well.
  • Lastly, I would advise you to internalize top-down communication for the whole interviews (and all professional settings in general). In order to truly come across structured and consulting-ready, it is required to use this type of communciation throughout the whole interview, not solely when presenting your final recommendation.

In case you want a more detailed discussion on to what extent the final interview round differs from the first interview round, please feel free to contact me directly.

I hope this helps,

Hagen

Deleted user
on Jan 06, 2022

Please have a look at this thread and other embedded threads for a rich discussion on the exact same question-https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-to-be-more-concise-in-both-case-and-fit-interview-11799

All the best!

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