Less Is More. Especially When You Really Want the Job.
I had an interview recently where I told the candidate upfront: keep it high level, we do not need all the details. They spoke for the next five minutes without taking a breath. I tried to interject. They kept going.
I get it. When you really want something, the instinct is to give everything you have. More detail, more context, more proof that you are the right person. It feels like the right move in the moment.
It is not.
Ironically, the more someone talks without stopping, the less I retain. And the more I find myself watching the clock rather than listening to the content. If you are in an interview and you are hoping to be remembered for the right reasons, concise and clear will always outperform thorough and exhaustive.
What Talking Too Much Actually Signals
Here is the thing about a candidate who cannot stop talking, even when the interviewer has signalled they should. It is not just a communication style preference. It is information.
The ability to read a room, to notice when the energy shifts, to pick up on a social cue and adjust accordingly, is one of the most transferable skills there is. It shows up in how you manage up, how you work across teams, how you handle a client who is losing interest, how you navigate a meeting that is going sideways. At Momentum, it is something we watch for specifically, because it tells us whether someone can adapt in real time. That matters at every level, whether you are a coordinator or a VP.
When someone talks over me in an interview after I have already asked them to keep it brief, what I hear is: this person may struggle to read the room on the job too. That is a harder thing to coach than almost anything else.
The signs are not subtle. If the interviewer leans back in their chair, if they stop taking notes, if they try to interject and you talk over them, those are your cues. Pause. Wrap up your thought. Invite the follow-up question. A good interviewer will ask if they want more.
The Power of Saying Less
There is genuine power in a concise answer. When you say what you need to say and stop, it signals confidence. It signals that you have thought about what matters most and you trust the other person to engage with it. It leaves room for a conversation rather than a monologue.
Think about the interviews or presentations that have stuck with you. They probably were not the ones where someone covered every possible detail. They were the ones where someone said exactly the right thing and made you want to know more.
That is what you are going for.
A Framework Worth Knowing: The STAR Method
If you are not sure how to structure an interview answer without either rambling or leaving too much out, the STAR method is worth practicing. It stands for:
Situation. Set the scene briefly. Where were you, what was the context?
Task. What was your specific role or responsibility in that situation?
Action. What did you do? This is where most of your answer should live.
Result. What happened because of what you did?
That is it. Four components, each one tight and purposeful. A strong STAR answer does not need to be long. It needs to be clear. If you can walk through all four in two minutes or less, you are in good shape. If you are still in the Situation section after three minutes, it is time to practice.
The other thing STAR does is keep you anchored to what was actually asked. It is easy in a long answer to drift away from the original question. The framework pulls you back.
Listen to the Question That Was Actually Asked
This sounds obvious. It is less obvious in practice, especially when you are nervous and you have been preparing answers for days.
Sometimes candidates hear a question and immediately go to the answer they prepared, even if it is not quite what was asked. The interviewer notices. It signals either that you were not really listening, or that you are more focused on delivering your material than having a conversation.
Before you answer, take a breath. Make sure you understood what was actually being asked. If you are not sure, it is completely fine to say so. "Just to make sure I am answering the right thing, are you asking about X or more about Y?" That kind of check-in is a green flag, not a red one. It shows you are paying attention.
A Note for the Interviewers Reading This
If you recognize this dynamic from the other side of the table, you are not alone. A few things that help: ask questions that are specific rather than open-ended, which naturally invites a more focused answer. If someone runs long, it is completely appropriate to say "I appreciate the detail, I want to make sure we have time to cover a few more things, so let's move on." You do not need to let an interview be taken over by one very enthusiastic answer.
And if a candidate talks over you when you try to redirect, note it. It is relevant information.
The Bottom Line
You do not need to say everything in every answer. You need to say the right things, clearly, and then let the conversation breathe.
Practice your answers out loud before the interview. Not to memorize them, but to hear yourself and notice when you start to ramble. Time yourself. Get comfortable with stopping. Trust that a good interviewer will ask for more if they want it.
The goal is a conversation, not a presentation. Show up for the conversation.
Jody Bomhof is the Founder of Momentum Talent Solutions Inc., a boutique Canadian contract talent placement firm specializing in strategic placements for HR, Marketing, and AI professionals. When she is not writing about the interview moments that stay with her longer than she would like, she is out on the golf course or spending time with her daughter, where knowing when to stop talking is also, it turns out, a useful skill.
Ready to find a role where your communication style is actually an asset? Reach out at info@momentumtalent.ca. We would love to be in your corner.
