The Coffee Shop Test
Would you actually say that if you were having coffee?
Under interview pressure, people stop sounding like themselves. The language gets formal and the personality disappears.
Someone asks, "Tell me about yourself," and suddenly it's "a results-driven strategic leader with a proven track record of leveraging cross-functional synergies." You don't speak like that. So why are you speaking like that now?
Imagine you're sitting opposite this person in a coffee shop and they ask what you do. You'd say something much simpler, and much clearer. That's the version I want you to use in interviews.
Answer. Evidence. Result. Then stop. If the interviewer wants more detail, trust me, they'll ask.
For technical leaders this matters even more. You're not trying to sound impressive. You're trying to make it easy for the other person to understand what you do, and ironically that usually makes you sound more senior.