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Section 1 - Information at Your Fingertips: Local Sources
Section 2 - Scholarships and Grants: Providing the Best Matches and Opportunities to Win
Section 3 - Introductions, Letters, and Applications
Section 4 - Contacting the Scholarship Sources
Section 5 - You, the Essay Contestant
Section 6 - Writing the Essay
Section 7 - Following ( or not ) the Contest Rules
Section 8 - Interviews and Speech Presentation Information
INTERVIEWS AND SPEECH PRESENTATION INFO
Section 8
Since preparation for interviews and speeches are similar in many ways, we've provided you with information and tips on both in this section. Interview tips are listed first, followed by speeches.
PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW
Some scholarship/grant sources might present you with a list of possible questions for you to answer during your interview, others might just start out by asking you such questions as:
- What kinds of courses have you taken, which ones did you like, dislike, and why?
- How much time do you devote to studying, how strong are your study habits?
- Regarding your GPA, class rank and SAT scores, can you explain the 1.9 in your sophomore year?
- What stirs your intellectual curiosity, what do you read that is not required, and what do you find academically stimulating?
- What are your favorite subjects and why? Which ones do you dislike the most?
- How aware of current events are you? Do you know what's going on in your world locally, nationally, globally? Do you know who's running your country, what major union is on strike, what country just had their first ever free election, what animal has just become extinct? (Hint, read your newspapers, Time, US News and World Report, watch CNN, The History and Discovery Channels, be aware!)
- What are your after school activities, employment record?
- What about your family; are you the first to go to college, where do your parents work?
- Describe your college search efforts, the criteria and characteristics you want in a post-secondary institution.
- Describe your ideal college.
- Who would you like to be for one day and why?
- Why would you like to receive this particular scholarship?
After arming yourself with the best possible answers to the questions above, let's move on to...
PRE-INTERVIEW TIPS
- Demonstrate an honest interest in the scholarship/grant source by finding out what they do. Researching their history will demonstrate motivation and earnestness on your part.
- Get a list, if you can, of any previous winners from the scholarship/grant source. Contact one or two and explain your situation; maybe they could give you a tip or two on what did or didn't work for them in their interview.
- Try to get a biographical list of previous winners that highlights their goals and ambitions, you could see how you compare to them.
- Dress properly! No matter how you dress daily, the best way to dress for an interview is 'conservatively'; guys…suit or coat, tie, slacks, pressed shirt, polished shoes. Girls should wear either a dress, or a business suit, and a minimum of jewelry. What you wear should project the appearance of you being poised, calm and self assured.
- Make sure you have the correct address, phone number, and directions to the interview location, as one of the worst things you can do is arrive late for the interview. If you do become lost, and the interview time is in jeopardy, call the site and tell them of the problem, find out if the interview can still be held or if you have to reschedule.
THE HOUR OF RECKONING
- You could be waiting in the office foyer outside the interviewer's office, or in the facility's cafeteria. Suddenly a representative of the scholarship and grant source introduces herself to you and your family, engages in a short, pleasant conversation, then leaves. This is often a pre-interview means for the scholarship and grant source to gather information and make impressions of you based on the conversation.
- Even while you are seated outside the interviewer's office, your behavior is often being noted. Instead of staring off into space, read the publications provided, especially if it happens to be about the scholarship source.
- If you haven't already done so, get the name of the interviewer and if possible, his/her business card, as it will help you remember his/her name and you will have a telephone number to call if a follow-up interview is required.
- Attitude is everything; view the interview as a meeting between persons exchanging information, ideas, and philosophies. You are an equal partner in this process; the scholarship sources want qualified candidates and you wish to be that candidate that can proudly list this source of income on your profile.
- Upon greeting the interviewer, extend a firm handshake, smile and make eye contact. Observe the details of the office; art work, photos, diplomas, plaques, company awards, etc.; they could reflect the interviewer's interests and values which could prove helpful during the interview.
- Be sure to speak clearly and calmly. Your diction should be concise; pronounce the g's at the end of words, etc.
- Use the vocabulary befitting an adult, avoiding trendy slang, and be sure to maintain good posture, whether standing or sitting.
- Listen very carefully, but at the same time, don't read anything into the interviewer's questions. Be honest, be direct, but most of all, THINK about your answers.
- Sometimes the questions you ask the interviewer are as important as your answers if you are trying to decipher what the interviewer means. Example; 'What do you think about our homeless situation?' 'Which aspect, Mr. Jones? The homeless individuals who require psychiatric care but are turned away or released from psychiatric hospitals, or the homeless situation in general?
- When the interview is over, don't rush right out, but take the time to engage in pleasantries, such as introducing your parents or friend who accompanied you to the interview, and thanking the interviewer for his/her time. This will probably not sway the interviewer, but it will show that you are friendly, civil and gracious after a trying experience.
Hopefully the list above provides you with enough examples to give you a general idea of how to respond to the interviews so you will sail through them, putting your 'best foot' forward and leaving a favorable impression with the interviewer.
DELIVERING A MEMORABLE SPEECH
Since many components of composing and giving a speech to obtain a scholarship or grant have similarities to interview and essay preparation, a lot of the same common sense tips discussed above apply here. As in the interview and essay, requirements concerning your speech will vary from source to source.
American Legion Posts often bring the final contestants onto the stage, (ten & up is common), having each contestant speak in turn. Other sources prefer having the finalists (4 to 8) give their speeches in a large auditorium in front of hundreds of people. Still others might use a large boardroom where finalists are placed in separate rooms until it is their turn to give their speech.
Writing a speech is similar to writing an essay, until you have to break the speech down into its outline form. Some sources might allow you to bring the entire speech on stage with you, while others will allow only cue cards.
The most difficult scenario is being allowed only one 5 X 8 card for your cue outline, so it's very important that you memorize as much as possible and practice, practice, practice.
If you aren't the first to speak, watch the contestants ahead of you, and analyze their delivery ; do they look relaxed, are they speaking slowly and clearly, or are they nervous and running the entire speech together?
If, when the time comes to deliver your speech, you don't feel nervous, you're either not awake yet, or you're extremely abnormal. Stay calm, everyone gets nervous, so take a deep breath and pretend that this is just another practice session in front of the mirror, and begin!
If you have to picture the audience sitting in their underwear to keep from freezing up during the delivery, by all means do it!!! Make sure your volume is constant and audible. Looking at the judges and audience is also important, and remember... leave out those small but deadly speech killers: UH, AND-UH, UMM.
If the content of your speech is great and you remember to use these tips, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you gave your best effort, so acknowledge the judges and audience with a slight forward nod of the head when finished and leave the stage.
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