60-second mock interview: say it before you have to

What the numbers mean

• Pace is words divided by the seconds you spoke. Most people are easy to follow between about 120 and 160 words a minute. Slower is fine for a hard question; much faster and the interviewer stops hearing the detail.
• Filler words are the ones the tool found in the text: um, uh, like, basically, actually, you know, kind of, sort of, literally, honestly. Every "like" is counted, so read the list and judge.
• Shape looks for the words people use when they set the scene (beginning), say what they did (middle) and give the result (end). It matches phrases, so a good answer in unusual words can show a gap that is not there. Read your transcript and decide.
• Duration is the time from Start to Stop, pauses included, because that is what the interviewer sits through. For a typed answer it is an estimate at 140 words a minute, and it says so.
• Numbers said counts digits and number words in the transcript. A number is the easiest way to make a result believable; a run like "forty percent" counts once.
• Hedge words are phrases that make a claim sound unsure: I think, I guess, I believe, I feel, I suppose, maybe, probably, perhaps, possibly, might, not sure, hopefully, a little bit, somewhat, more or less, try to, tried to, I would say. One "I think" before an opinion is normal; five in a minute sounds unsure.
• Repeated words are words of four letters or more that you said three times or more, not counting common words. Repeating the key term of the question is fine; repeating "stuff" or "thing" is worth a look.
• Nothing here is a score out of 100. It is a mirror, not a grade.