"You sound insecure" — how recording yourself can help you ace your next interview

Imagine you just finished an important job interview. You prepared extensively, had great answers to every question, and felt you really connected with the interviewer. But a few days later, you get the dreaded rejection email. What went wrong?

There‘s a critical factor in interviews that‘s often overlooked: how you sound. You could have the most impressive qualifications and insightful responses, but if you come across as insecure, inexperienced, or unenthusiastic, it will overshadow everything you say.

The good news is, you can drastically improve how you sound in interviews with one simple trick: recording yourself practicing. But despite the benefits, very few candidates take advantage of this strategy.

In a recent survey of over 1000 job seekers, only 14% said they regularly record themselves practicing interview answers. And only 32% have ever tried it at all.

As a veteran software engineer who has conducted hundreds of technical interviews, I can confidently say that candidates who record their practice sessions stand out. Both for their crisp, compelling communication and for going the extra mile in their preparation.

Why you should record your interview practice

When we speak, we hear our own voice differently than other people hear it. The first time you listen to a recording of your voice, it usually sounds higher-pitched and just…strange. But that unfamiliar voice is what everyone else hears when you talk.

Recording yourself practicing interview answers allows you to experience your voice from an outsider‘s perspective. You‘ll pick up on a myriad of issues you may be completely unaware of, such as:

• Sounding nervous, uncertain, or unconvincing
• Speaking too quickly or slowly
• Using filler words like "um," "uh," "like," and "you know"
• Rambling or losing your train of thought
• Not fully answering the question asked
• Talking in circles or not getting to the point

When I first started recording myself practicing for interviews early in my coding career, I was shocked. I didn‘t sound nearly as clear, confident, and articulate as I thought I did. My voice quivered. I said "um" every other word. I went off on unrelated tangents. No wonder I kept getting rejected after technical interviews!

Hearing yourself answer interview questions is like seeing yourself on video—it‘s uncomfortable at first, but it reveals critical blind spots. You‘ll gain priceless insights you can use to make immediate improvements.

The impact of your vocal delivery cannot be overstated. A classic study by UCLA psychology professor Albert Mehrabian found that communication is:

• 55% body language
• 38% vocal tone
• 7% verbal content

In other words, it‘s not just what you say, but how you say it. And in a phone interview, 93% of your communication is based on vocal tone alone.

Research also shows that job applicants and executives are seen as more competent, thoughtful, and intelligent when they speak slightly slower. Even a 10% decrease in speaking pace makes you sound more authoritative.

And according to a survey of over 1,000 hiring managers by career website Zety, the most common nonverbal mistakes in interviews are:

1. Failure to make eye contact (67%)
2. Failure to smile (38%)
3. Bad posture (33%)
4. Fidgeting too much (32%)
5. Crossing your arms over your chest (31%)
6. Playing with something on the table (30%)
7. Handshake that is too weak (25%)
8. Touching your face (23%)
9. Using too many hand gestures (11%)

By recording yourself, you can audit for these negative habits and work to reduce them. Video recording is ideal to analyze body language, but even audio alone will capture many of these issues.

How to effectively record your interview practice

Follow these tips to get the most out of recording yourself:

1. Use good equipment. Find a quiet space and use a quality microphone for clear audio. Your phone or computer microphone should work well.

2. Act like it‘s a real interview. Dress professionally and maintain good posture. Your physical state affects your mental state.

3. Have a list of questions. Prepare a set of common interview questions to work through, as well as company/role-specific ones. Here are some of the most common coding interview questions to start with:

   • "Tell me about yourself."
   • "Why do you want to work for our company?"
   • "What are your strengths and weaknesses?"
   • "Tell me about a challenging project you worked on."
   • "How do you handle conflicts with coworkers?"
   • "What are your salary expectations?"
   • "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

4. Don‘t stop or do retakes. Aim to give your answers in one full take, even if you stumble. This reflects the real conditions of an interview.

5. Review the recording ASAP. Listen back shortly after recording while the experience is fresh in your mind. Take notes on what you want to improve.

6. Analyze your verbal ticks. Count how many times you say filler words like "um," "uh," "like," and "you know." Make a goal to cut that number in half for your next recording.

7. Assess your pacing. Did you speak too quickly or slowly? Aim for a relaxed conversational pace. Most people rush when they‘re nervous. Take a deep breath and consciously slow down.

8. Notice your tone and inflection. Do you sound monotone or flat? Confident or insecure? Enthusiastic or bored? Authentic or rehearsed? Try to inject more warmth, energy, and personality into your voice.

9. Listen for rambling or incomplete answers. Did you fully address the question asked? Did you bridge to relevant examples and accomplishments? Were your key points clearly organized and easy to follow? Streamline your answers to be more concise and impactful.

10. Do multiple takes. Keep practicing and rerecording your answers until you sound smooth and polished. Compare your first and final takes to appreciate your progress!

11. Have others review your recordings. Get feedback from trusted friends, family, or mentors. They may catch verbal habits or body language issues you overlooked. As a society, we‘re much more attuned to how other people sound vs. ourselves.

Recording yourself may feel awkward at first, but stick with it. Like any skill, you‘ll get more comfortable with practice.

I recommend recording at least a dozen practice interviews, spread across several days or weeks as you prepare. Make it part of your application routine for every job you‘re seriously pursuing.

The proof is in the results

Earlier in my career, I experienced a streak of rejections after dozens of software engineering interviews. Hiring managers would say I was "not quite the right fit" or that "another candidate‘s qualifications were more suited for the role." I was frustrated and discouraged. I didn‘t know what I was doing wrong.

Then a senior developer I respected suggested I record myself answering mock coding interview questions, just as an experiment. I was hesitant but figured I had nothing to lose.

Listening back to those initial recordings was brutal. I sounded meek and unsure explaining my code. My speech was littered with "ums" and "uhs." I rambled about irrelevant implementation details. I didn‘t even answer some questions fully. But identifying my weaknesses allowed me to finally start correcting them.

I began rerecording my answers, keeping my notes in mind. I focused on speaking slowly, cutting filler words, and communicating key points concisely. After a few rounds of practice, I sounded like a different engineer. More direct, more self-assured, more hire-worthy.

The transformation became clear in my next real interview. It was for an exciting machine learning role I was eager to land. But this time, I felt calm and in control as I walked the interviewer through my code. My speech was crisp. I nailed every question. And I actually enjoyed the conversation.

A few days later, the hiring manager called to say I had really impressed the interview panel. They loved how clearly and confidently I communicated. I got the job, along with a 15% higher salary than I had been targeting!

From then on, recording mock interviews became an essential part of my prep process. As I advanced in my career and pursued senior developer and tech lead roles, the stakes grew higher. But I knew I could rely on my trusty practice partner—the camera.

Before every big interview, I recorded myself running through a list of likely technical and behavioral questions. I checked for any slip-ups or opportunities to polish my responses. By interview day, I had my key points down cold. I showed up brimming with well-earned confidence.

And it paid off, leading to job offers from top tech companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon. Hiring managers started commenting that I was one of the strongest technical communicators they‘d interviewed.

Recording yourself practicing won‘t transform you into a flawless orator overnight. But it‘s the closest thing to a silver bullet for improving your interview performance.

You have to hear it to believe it

The impact of recording your interview practice cannot be overstated. There‘s a giant disconnect between how we think we sound and how we actually sound. Recording bridges that gap.

You could spend hours and hours crafting the perfect coding interview answers. But if you can‘t deliver them clearly and confidently, they won‘t land with impact. How you say something matters just as much as what you say.

Make no mistake—interviews are performances. And strong communication is especially important for developers and technical roles. You may be brilliant at writing code, but can you explain it in plain English? Can you break down a complex algorithm for a layperson to understand? Can you persuade a skeptical manager to take a chance on a risky technical decision?

Modulating your tone, varying your pacing, and channeling the right emotion is a subtle art. But it makes the difference between forgettable and memorable, decent and dazzling.

When an interviewer asks about your most challenging bug, you want to sound like a Sherlock Holmes novel as you walk through your troubleshooting process. When they ask you to explain a recent project, you want to paint a vivid picture and transport them into your world. Your voice should be as engaging as your story.

Think of recording yourself as free interview coaching. It‘s a front-row seat to study your own performance and workshop it to perfection. The more you practice, the more effortless and natural you‘ll sound when it counts.

So what are you waiting for? Bust out your phone, find a quiet corner, and start recording. Stumble through your answers. Critique yourself. Try again, but better. Hear yourself improving in real time.

Will it be uncomfortable at first? Absolutely. Worthwhile things usually are. But when you‘re sitting across from your interviewer, speaking with the poise of a seasoned engineer and commanding the room, you‘ll be grateful you put in the work.

The most successful candidates are the ones who go above and beyond in their preparation. Recording yourself practicing is a powerful, yet underutilized, tool for developing standout interview skills.

In the wise words of Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and Influence People, "There are four ways, and only four ways, in which we have contact with the world. We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts: what we do, how we look, what we say, and how we say it."

Seize control of those last two variables. Because even the most brilliant ideas and impeccable qualifications are meaningless if you can‘t communicate them. How you say it matters more than you think.