Reading the Answer That Arrives Too Polished
Launch library · evergreen read
An answer that sounds unusually complete, arriving with the structure and cadence of something already written rather than spoken for the first time, is worth a second look. It may simply reflect a well-practised story, or it may be substituting polish for genuine reflection in the moment.
The two are not always easy to tell apart, and an interviewer who assumes the worst risks unfairly doubting a subject who has simply told a meaningful story many times before and told it well as a result of that repetition. Assuming dishonesty too quickly can unfairly doubt a subject who has simply told a story many times well.
A useful test is to ask for a detail the polished version would not usually include. A genuinely lived memory tends to yield further specifics easily; a purely rehearsed account sometimes struggles to extend beyond its familiar shape. A genuinely lived memory tends to yield further specifics easily, where a purely rehearsed one often cannot.