Storytelling Techniques for Interviews | Tim Newman Speaks

Have you ever walked out of an interview thinking you nailed it, only to get that dreaded rejection email? If you’ve ever wondered why your answers weren’t as memorable as you hoped, you’re definitely not alone—and this episode of Speaking with Confidence is for you.

I’m Tim Newman, your host and communication coach, and today we’re diving deep into a question that can make all the difference between being passed over and landing the job: How do you turn routine interview answers into momentum-packed stories that recruiters remember?

In this solo episode, we explore the power of storytelling in interviews—specifically, how moving away from bland job description recaps and instead zeroing in on moments when you made a real difference can set you apart from the crowd. We’ll unpack the biggest mistake most candidates make: defaulting to flat, activity-based responses that tell interviewers what you did, but not how you moved the needle.

You’ll hear why showing measurable progress is so powerful, both for impressing human hiring managers and even AI-driven applicant tracking systems. We’ll dig into the neuroscience behind why stories that highlight change and results are 22 times more memorable than plain lists of tasks. Most importantly, I’ll arm you with my Momentum Story Blueprint—a repeatable, actionable formula based on the STAR method that will help you frame your contributions in ways that recruiters will notice (and remember).

In today’s episode, we cover:

• The real reason so many candidates blend together in interviews—and how you can stand out
• How to move beyond listing job duties and instead showcase your impact, growth, and results
• The science behind why outcome-focused stories stick with interviewers
• How John Maxwell’s Momentum Principle applies to interviews (and why “the law of the big Mo” is your secret weapon)
• Why skill-based hiring trends and even AI screening tools favor momentum-driven answers
• A step-by-step breakdown of the Momentum Story Blueprint: how to define the situation, detail actions, and cement your results with metrics
• Real-life examples that show you how to transform your raw experiences into compelling evidence of future potential
• Practical tips for sharpening your stories, practicing them for video or audio interviews, and ensuring every answer packs a punch

By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to show—clearly and confidently—not just what you’ve done, but the visible difference you can make. Whether you’re preparing for your next big interview or just want to get better at communicating your value, this episode gives you the tools to prove you’re the candidate who brings momentum wherever you go.

Ready to move your career story forward? Hit play and let’s get started. And don’t forget—after you listen, head over to speakingwithconfidencepodcast.com for your free eBook and more resources to help you become a memorable, confident communicator.

Chapters

• 0:08 Welcome and Episode Focus
• 0:27 Why Candidates Blend Together
• 1:25 Stories that Show Change
• 3:21 Momentum as Hiring Edge
• 5:06 Skill-Based Hiring & AI Signals
• 6:11 The Momentum Story Blueprint
• 8:54 Practice, Metrics, and Delivery
• 10:00 Key Reminder and Resources

Transcript

Tim Newman: 0:08

Welcome back to Speaking with Confidence, the podcast that helps you build the soft skills that lead to real results. Communication, storytelling, public speaking, and showing up with confidence in every conversation that counts. I'm Tim Newman, a recovering college professor turn communication coach, and I'm thrilled to guide you on a journey to becoming a powerful communicator. Step into your next interview like you own the room. Ready to flip every question into a story packed with progress, momentum, and real results. You'll learn one repeatable story structure that turns routine answers into momentum evidence recruiters remember. Instead of drilling only about responsibilities, you'll show that you're the person who drives things forward, and that difference can be the deciding factor. Why do so many candidates blend together in interviews even though their resumes and backgrounds are completely different? The answer usually comes down to one fatal storytelling mistake, the way they describe their experience. Instead of showing real impact, most default to the safe, forgettable statements pulled straight from a job description. An answer like, I manage the social media calendar and created content could be lifted word for word from a posting on LinkedIn. It tells the interviewer nothing about growth, momentum, or results. By contrast, imagine saying, I introduced a new calendar system and A B tested different post types, which increase engagement by 30% in two months. That second version demonstrates what changed because you were there. Research backs this up. Studies on hiring show candidates are rated far higher when they tell outcome-focused stories about solving problems and creating value, not just listening to activities. And here's why it matters even more. The human brain retains narrative information twenty two times more effectively than raw facts or figures. A clear story not only answers question in the moment, but it also stays with the interviewer long after the meeting ends. Yet many applicants never connect the dots. They describe tasks without explaining why those tasks mattered or how things move forward because of them. They might say they coordinate a project, but leave out that the project was running months behind until they stepped in, streamlined communication, and delivered it two weeks early. That gap leaves hiring managers with no sense of momentum, only static activity. It's the reason strong candidates often walk out of interviews without offers. Behavioral interview research makes a solution clear. Use narrative structures like STAR because they give interviewers a window into your actual decision making and impact. Effective responses aren't about duties but about transformation. What changed? How you contributed, and what results followed. As you prepare, pick one example from your resume and ask, did I change anything? Did things move forward? If not, dig deeper until you find the progress point. Because when you focus on impact instead of activity, you're no longer just describing the past, you're signaling the kind of momentum you can create next. And that idea opens the door to a principle that completely changes how interviewers perceive your potential. John Maxwell's momentum principle, known as the law of the big Mo, shows why momentum is considered a leader's best friend. It multiplies effort, accelerates results, and shows how people experience progress. Maxwell's point, momentum multiplies impact, means employers value evidence that you created progress, not just that you executed tasks. When you apply this principle to interviews, the difference is dramatic. Instead of sounding like someone who just maintained the status quo, you demonstrate that you spark forward motion wherever you go. Momentum in an interview isn't about reciting what you were assigned to do, it's about showing that your involvement changed outcomes for the better. Saying I manage a team leaves the picture flat. Reframing it to explain how you inherited a disengaged group, set up weekly check-ins, created clear goals, and within three months lowered turnover by nearly a third while boosting project completions creates a story of transformation. It signals you didn't just handle a role, you created momentum that mattered. And employers want to see that kind of energy because they're not only hiring for skills, they're hiring for progress from day one. And this is why momentum-driven stories land so strongly. They turn your past into tangible evidence of future potential. And a hiring manager doesn't just hear what you accomplished, they start imagining the ripple effects that you'd bring inside their organization. That forward-looking picture is what separates you from the list of other qualified candidates. Recent industry data reinforces this. A large majority of employers, about four and five, now use skill-based hiring approaches, focusing less on static qualifications and more on proof of impact. Demonstrating momentum positions you exactly where these hiring practices are already headed. Research even suggests technology is moving in the same direction. Deep learning models trained on interview transcripts can detect storytelling signals like cause and effect patterns and outcome-focused details. These systems have shown promising accuracy when analyzing extended context and audio data, which means momentum-driven stories aren't just effective with people, they're also aligned with how automated tools evaluate responses. And the takeaway is simple. When you frame your answers around momentum, you give interviewers a reason to believe you won't just take on work, you'll generate lasting progress. So the question now is how to take ordinary moments and shape them into stories that clearly communicate movement. The Momentum Story Blueprint gives you a reliable way to frame your answers so they highlight forward progress. It's built on the star method, situation, task, action, and result, but with one key twist. This version emphasizes movement. Show how you reversed a trend, accelerated results, or expanded impact. When choosing examples, pick episodes where you change a measurable trend, turning we did X into we improved Y by Z in W months. That shift is what makes your story memorable. So step one, define a clear situation where things were stagnant, heading downhill, or simply broken. Don't flatten it to I improved a process. Spell it out so your impact is easy to see. Maybe customers were filing repeated complaints about response times, or every project was slipping past deadlines. Setting up the before state creates contrast that makes your results sharper. Step two, walk through the exact actions you took. Skip throwaway lines like I worked hard or I led a team, because those are activities, not evidence. Instead, trace the mechanics. You studied the workflow, located the bottleneck, and introduced an automated system that cut two approval steps. That level of detail signals intentional problem solving. Step three. Cement the impact with a metric. Numbers show momentum in action. For example, the situation was a backlog of support tickets. The action, you designed a triage system with canned responses and automated routing. The result resolution times fell by the equivalent of weeks to days with a reported 28% faster turnaround and about 10 hours saved per week in a similar case. That anchored numerical outcome makes momentum impossible to ignore. This framework doesn't just describe one moment. It highlights how your actions triggered ripple effects. A drop in response times also builds trust, strengthens retention, and even drives new referrals. And that's what employees watch for the compounding effects of your influence. For recorded or video first interviews, trim your story down to the essentials, situation, action, result, and practice it aloud so you don't drift into values or filler. A reliable way to improve is to record one momentum story, time it, and keep it between 60 and 90 seconds with one metric conclusion. That simple exercise sharpens delivery and ensures clarity, whether you're speaking live or into a camera. And with practice, this blueprint doesn't just help you structure answers, it marks you as someone who creates lasting value. Momentum storytelling shows interviewers that you won't just meet expectations, you'll move things forward. Research also confirms why this matters. A well-told momentum story is much more memorable than a list of duties. Stories stick because they highlight outcomes, not activities, which helps you stand out long after the interview ends. Practice one momentum story today. Record it. Time it. And aim to include one measurable result. If you're preparing for a video interview, record the answers audio or video to simulate the real setting. If you reframe your answers through momentum and you speak like someone who accelerates results, you become exactly who hiring managers hire. Remember, we're looking for progress, not perfection. That's all for today. Be sure to visit speakingwithconfidencepodcast.com to get your free ebook, The Top 21 Challenges for Public Speakers, and How to Overcome Them. You can also register for the Formula for Public Speaking Course. Always remember, your voice has the power of changing. We'll talk to you next time.

unknown: 10:16

Take care.