I've Lost the Room! And Therefore the Promotion!
- Victoria Hogg
- Jul 17, 2025
- 3 min read
Wotcha, pals! |
Picture this: you’re at work, quietly brilliant, firing off polished reports like paper planes - but they all land on the ‘wrong desk’. Why? Because nobody noticed you launched them. In today’s business world, if you don’t know how to own the space, you could be waving goodbye to furthering your career. While others cartwheel up the ladder, you’re stuck on the first rung, invisible. Let’s talk about presence: the kind that makes people lean in, not log out. Presence is that fizzy feeling you get when someone walks into a room and you’re aware the temperature just changed. The best professionals don’t just do the job—they animate the room like it’s a stage and they’ve just been handed a mic. Planning what you’ll say and how you want it to go is hugely important. Being ready for unexpected questions is crucial. By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail - and you might just be ghosted by your own career. |
I’ve Lost the Room! And Therefore, the Promotion!
TRY IT OUT: Interview yourself for your current situation - or dream job!
Sit with a piece of paper or your own phone camera and actually interview yourself. What do you want from the position? What could you improve about your performance? Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? The answers, garnered in the moment and off the cuff, might surprise you…
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” Benjamin Franklin, US President
Something spontaneous…
It’s worth deciding what stories you’ll bring to the situation. Is there a specific type of anecdote? An example of your worth or character type?
I (Vic) recently saw The Pursuit of Happyness. There’s an iconic scene where Will Smith’s character Chris Gardner, despite wearing overalls covered in paint, shows up to interview and nails it with charm, authenticity, specific examples and laser-focused confidence.
He mentions his dedication. He talks about his achievements. He lands a good spontaneous joke. It’s not luck. It’s presence, persuasion and a sprinkle of storytelling. Who will you be when you have to stand up?
Something empathised…
The current fashion for ‘five one-to-one interviews, a pitch video, a group challenge and a final one-to-many interview’ is horrendous. How do we mitigate such a stressful journey?
I can remember one ancient-history job interview I had like it was yesterday. I looked nice. I had answers for all the obvious questions. I knew about the job. I thought I was prepared.
What I hadn’t thought about empathetically was the company as a whole. I soon realised that I hadn’t cared enough about what this specific ‘audience’ was feeling and thinking. I hadn’t tailored my mindset to connect with my interviewers.
I got the job - but it was a close call. Have you activated your empathy chip and imagined yourself already flying the flag for the audience you’re addressing?
“If you don’t know what you want to achieve in your presentation, your audience never will” Harvey Diamond, Fit For Life author
Something pre-empted…
Handling rejection is a huge part of commanding a room. When an audience rejects your latest ‘offer’, you cannot let it knock you off your stride.
I (Vic) have been watching eps of Shark Tank; the US version of Dragon’s Den. I discovered that Barbara Corcoran - one of the most famous and charismatic sharks - was told, while being rejected from the initial hiring, that: “You weren’t dynamic enough in interview”.
Corcoran turned the situation around and, in a persuasive letter, even listed several life rejections that had spurred her on to try harder. “I’ve had all my big successes on the heels of rejection: frankly, it’s right up my alley”. She’s now been in all 15 seasons of Shark Tank.
‘Commanding the room’ includes not taking “No” for an answer. Don’t allow yourself to be put off your stride by rejection, no matter what type.
All the best,
Vic (and Paul)
