This is the age of the interview. You can’t land a job or get elected president if you can’t ace one.

In school we are taught to focus on the written word, when in life it’s what we say that matters. There’s the problem. Too often, our words reveal more than we intend. In fact, most verbal blunders – either at the podium or in an interview – result not from tough or unfair questions, but from self-destructive answers.

Dazed or bewildered by the glare of bright lights people lose confidence, sometimes disastrously so.  That’s because interviews are as much about what know and as how you present yourself—they reveal character.

Presidential candidate, Rick Perry, was hammered for his lack of verbal Q during the recent GOP debates. OK, so he’s not quick on his feet, but neither was George W. Bush and he went all the way to the White House.  Big difference: Bush came off as likeable. (In fact, the guy was kind of hard to dislike even when he was fronting two wars.) With Bush nothing personal. With Perry, everything seems personal.

Governor Perry can delegate a killer advertising campaign, but he will have to talk for himself to get the nomination.

David Frost interviewing former U.S. President Richard Nixon