Interview anxiety is normal—even for experienced candidates. The difference is having a repeatable routine that gets you calm, focused, and ready to perform on demand. Here’s a practical 20-minute pre-interview routine you can use for virtual, phone, or in-person interviews.

1) Minutes 1–5: Ground your body (so your brain follows)

When nerves spike, your body leads the story. Reset your baseline quickly:

• Box breathing (2 minutes): inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4.
• Posture check (30 seconds): shoulders down, feet grounded, jaw unclenched.
• Voice warm-up (2 minutes): hum, then read 3–4 sentences out loud slowly.

Why it works: You’re lowering stress signals and warming up the exact tool you’ll use: your voice.

2) Minutes 6–12: Lock in your “3-message” interview story

Most candidates ramble because they haven’t decided what they want the interviewer to remember. Create three core messages (one sentence each):

• What I do best: (e.g., “I turn messy processes into simple, measurable workflows.”)
• Proof I’ve done it: (one quick accomplishment with numbers)
• Why it matters here: (tie to their team/company goal)

Then practice answering this prompt in 30–45 seconds:

• “Tell me about yourself.”

Keep it tight: present → past proof → why this role.

3) Minutes 13–18: Prepare 2 STAR stories + 1 “curveball” response

Don’t try to prep 12 stories. Prep a small set you can adapt.

Your two STAR stories

Choose one story for each:

• Impact: increased revenue, reduced time, improved quality, shipped faster
• Collaboration/conflict: working with a tough stakeholder, disagreement, alignment

Use STAR with extra clarity:

• Situation (1 sentence)
• Task (your responsibility)
• Action (3 bullet actions: what you did, not “we”)
• Result (metrics + what you learned)

Your curveball response

Have a ready structure for:

• “What’s your biggest weakness?” Use: context → what you’re doing → proof of improvement.

4) Minutes 19–20: Questions that make you memorable

End strong with questions that show judgment:

• “What would success look like in the first 60–90 days?”
• “What’s the biggest challenge the team needs solved this quarter?”
• “How do you measure impact for this role?”

Pro tip (virtual interviews): Put these questions on a sticky note near your camera so your eyes stay up.

If you tried this routine before your next interview, which step would help you the most—and what’s the hardest part of interviews for you right now?