How to learn to think on my feet when it doesn't come naturally?

[Tailypo]

Just wondering if anyone has any tips for this please?

This would be really helpful in the context of job interviews in particular, but also more generally.

I'd say that I'm generally quite cautious and prefer to really think things through before making a decision, so maybe I'm not naturally someone who can think easily on my feet.

In job interviews, I sometimes find it tricky to be clear and concise when answering questions that I'm not necessarily expecting, as I'm processing the question and trying to understand it at the same time as trying to answer it fully and feeling under pressure.

This does let me down in interviews, so I thought a good way of practising would be to record myself answering potential questions before an interview and to see how I do.

It would also be great to have more general tips please. I know this is fairly specific, so the exact same situation won't come up again, but I remember when I was training to be be a teacher (was hell and I didn't last long!) I would find it so hard to get used to making loads of quick decisions as I had to adjust to a new way of thinking and I guess I just wasn't used to not feeling prepared and not 'having all the facts' before having to make the decisions.

Thanks :)

Bumping :)

Practice - have people ask you interview and also random questions (what would you do about North Korea if you were Donald Trump?)

Prepare - think through common questions and prepare before

Pause - it is ok to pause slightly in the interview and say "i'm considering my most relevant example....[give example]" but don't do it too often or for too long.

To answer more concisely you can try thinking in points. Max 3 points. That way you dont start babbling about other things. And yes loads of practice.

Practice - record yourself on your phone or iPad, answering questions. Review and do it again until you've polished your response.

Agree with the practice. 3 points to every answer - what the situation was, how you handled it, what you learnt from it. Keeping to 3 points helps to prevent waffling and gives you an open and a close. Get down on paper answers to every question you can possibly think of (go online for inspiration) and get someone to test you. Even have answers to silly questions prepared e.g. if you were an animal what would you be and why, if you were a superhero what would your powers be and why? If you were a soup, what flavour would you be? Sounds daft but gives you a footing for how you would describe yourself.

Ahh thanks so much for your ideas - you're all brilliant :)

Also take a notepad and pen with you, and write down the key words in the question. It looks professional and buys you a few seconds thinking time before you launch into your answer. Also having a pad and pen gives you something to hold in your hands to stop you making weird nervous hand gestures!

On a similar head the star technique was mentioned which I plan to practise

I got much better at thinking on my feet when I did a mindfulness course.

Plan some stock phrases to buy you time.

e.g. that is an interesting question

If you don't feel you have the full facts you can either ask for more information or say " on the assumption that xyz applies then..."

Oh great thread topic. I am very bad at thinking on my feet. the three points suggestion is smart.

Would love know about more.