Interview & SOP Prep Tips (Part 2)

How do you tell a story?

“Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone.” - Jennifer Aaker, Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Knowing how to tell a story helps not only in interviews and SOP writing; in professional work and relationships, it also becomes a key skill you'll often need to persuade others. Mastering it will pay off endlessly.

Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Jennifer Aaker says a successful story should include these four elements

1. A Goal: Think about why you're telling this story. How do you want the audience to feel before and after it?

2. Grab Attention: Why should the audience listen to this story? You can use fun facts, surprising truths and so on to draw them in

3. Engage: Why should the audience care about this story? Create resonance and include persuasive elements

4. Enable: Stories that are easy to remember and easy to spread are more readily accepted and shared.

Here I'll use the example from Part 1 again, a student who advocates tackling global warming applying to an international relations graduate program, to show how to apply this

• A Goal: The goal is to advance global climate action by studying international relations

• Grab Attention: Open with a personal story that briefly explains why climate change matters to me, to spark the listener's interest. For example, I could mention a research project I joined in college that examined the impact of climate change on a developing country. That experience gave me an in-depth understanding of issues like international climate agreements, carbon emissions reduction and renewable energy.

• Engage: What I'm pursuing is not just academic research but a chance to make a real impact on the world. After graduating, I hope to join an international organization or NGO and work with governments and stakeholders to advance global climate action. I believe my research and practice will make a valuable contribution to tackling the challenge of climate change.

• Enable: This story is easy to remember because it combines why the climate issue matters to me, why it matters to others, and how I'll achieve this goal.

Try practicing, and check whether your story includes these elements:

The protagonist doesn't have to be the storyteller; it can be a team member or even a client.

The protagonist faces a clear challenge, with something at stake.

The story has one main thread describing what the protagonist goes through to reach the goal.

Other important remarks:

• Keep only “relevant experience”: many people put their entire academic and work history into the SOP, but an SOP isn't an autobiography. The audience's attention is limited, and they don't really care about things unrelated to your goals & the school

• What if you don't have an impressive résumé, or you're writing a “cross-field” SOP: there's no shortcut. You can only prepare early and put in the effort to prove your motivation and show authenticity, e.g. what made you want to switch fields? You can also volunteer, join forums, work on projects with professors, attend events, take online courses, earn certifications and so on in the relevant field. There are many ways, but they all need early planning, and pay attention to how you connect your past to your future.

• Avoid only saying you're “there to learn”. Put yourself in their shoes: what does the school gain by admitting you?

• Avoid being overly modest: Taiwanese people tend to be modest about their résumés or mention their own weaknesses. With limited space, think about how to arrange or phrase things, because excessive modesty comes across as a lack of confidence

• Use STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to prepare at least 5 experiences for answering behavioral questions

• Always practice in front of a mirror, so you know what facial expressions the person talking with you sees

• Practice, practice, and practice again