You have wanted to promote in your department for some time. You feel you are qualified to help develop your agency and lead your troops. So now is time to begin to prepare yourself for this new career endeavor and someone (me) advises you to take a mock oral board and videotape yourself. Now is the time you ask yourself why and what good are mock orals?
I am positive during your career you have given speeches, handed out citations, talked to your family and friends about your career, but I doubt if you have ever sat down and studied yourself after your presentations or how you reacted in a stressful situation. Now people may have approached you and stated you did well but ask yourself: Is well good enough to beat out my competition?
If you really want to know how you look under the gun I strongly suggest is that you videotape yourself while answering questions during a mock Oral Board. I don't want you to ask yourself questions while sitting in front of a mirror to watch your reactions because you will miss many of them. And I don't want you to stand by yourself and ask yourself questions while standing in front of the camera. Nor do I want your significant other or a close friend to ask you questions while you are sitting in front of a camera. Why not, you may ask? Because you want to feel the stresses associated with the testing process, especially the Oral Board or the Assessment Center Exercise, and the above situations do not initiate enough real life pressure. So, there's no stress in messing up in front of your friends or significant other; they are very close to you and may have difficultly giving an honest critique of your performance. It is difficult to tell a close friend that they stink. Plus, since they are friends, it is too easy to laugh it off if you make a mistake.
No; I want you to contact three respected associates, from an outside agency, and ask them to be raters on your mock Oral Board. If possible, the rank of the raters should be at least one rank higher than the position for which you are testing. Since these individuals are well-respected officers whom you admire because of their achievements within their agencies and throughout their careers, you would probably feel embarrassed or upset with yourself if you performed poorly in front of them. Ask them to put you through the ringer. They will take this assignment seriously and will work diligently on being an excellent board and will rate you accordingly.
OK you have your Oral Board ready, now pick a date, time and location away from your residence. Your home is way too comfortable and doesn't place enough stress on you. Remember, we are attempting to recreate the intensity of your upcoming testing process. You may have access to an office on a weekend when no one is around. Try to utilize a conference room with a large table. Usually, during an Oral Board presentation, the room is arranged with three seats for the raters on one side of the table and one seat for the candidate on the other side. Place your video camera behind the raters' chairs so it is facing you. If you don't have a camera, borrow or rent one for a day - it is well worth the rental fee. Have one of the raters turn the camera on prior to you entering the room. This will help evaluate your entrance: Did you demonstrate self-confidence, command presence, or were your shoulders slouched? Do not have anyone man the camera as this will create a distraction for you.
As previously discussed, when you were preparing for the written exam, the night before the Oral Board, I want you to relax as much as possible. If you live by the water or a park, take a walk with your significant other and understand that you have prepared yourself as best as possible and that you are ready for tomorrow's process. Have a light dinner with no alcoholic beverages, and go to bed early.
Set a time for your presentation: arrive early, dressed the way you would during your real presentation. In other words, if you are planning to wear a suit and tie or a dress to your real Oral Board, this is what you will wear to your mock Oral Board.
Remember, this is just like a dress rehearsal for a play only in this scenario you are working extremely hard to enhance your future, which is what makes this preparation so exciting. The reason I compare it to a play is because once you enter that room, you will be on stage, and all eyes will be on you while you give an outstanding performance, convincing these raters that you are the best candidate for the position. This preparation also allows you to plan your presentation ahead of time because during an Oral Board, there will be a time limit. It usually depends on your City Personnel Manager and sometimes the Chief of Police, but normally the Oral Board will last anywhere from 20, 30, 45, or even 60 minutes. This is the time that you have to sell yourself to the panel of raters, so you must be ready.
Prior to arriving at the location, do some facial exercises. As you know, the mouth is a muscle that must be exercised to work properly. When you wake up in the morning, you just don't jump out of bed, ready for the day. It takes a few minutes for you to stretch and rub you arms and turn your neck a few times, and then you are ready to stand up. Well, your mouth also needs to be stretched and rubbed so it will work properly when you are ready to speak. Professional singers and speakers do exercises prior to a performance, and so should you. While driving in your car, begin to stretch you jaw and lips. Start to say A, E, I, O, U in an exaggerated way so that you stretch the muscles of your mouth. Also, utilize the saying, How now brown cow, which will help to loosen the muscles in your mouth and awaken your vocal cords. People may look at you in a funny way while you're driving, but just smile, keep up your exercises, and let them wonder what it is that you're doing.
Since we are performing this mock oral as if it were the real thing there are several things to consider prior to entering the room:
You will be nervous and probably have a knot in your stomach, which is a good thing. That knot will help place you in a more competitive environment. What I mean by this is that it makes you ready for the process to begin. It gives you an edge and makes you sharp. The knot I'm discussing is a slight tightness in your stomach, not a pain that has you on the ground moaning or causes dizziness or fainting spells. You don't want to place that much pressure on yourself, because if you were in that much pain you would probably be in the emergency room prior to the beginning of your testing process. I always had a knot in my stomach prior to any testing process, speeches, or presentations that I made. I found that the knot in my stomach helped me give the best performance that I had in me. I also realized, as you will, that once the process began, the knot would disappear because I felt prepared and in control of the situation.
Something else to consider is that you are very nervous and your gastric juices are flowing and your breath may become somewhat harsh, so I would suggest that you carry a breath mint and use it just prior to your interview. Be sure it has completely dissolved before entering the room or remove it from your mouth. It is the same for gum - don't chew it during the interview. I suggest you don't chew it at all on game day because you may forget about it and walk into the room and begin chewing without even realizing it. You will look like a cow grazing in a field and the moment you realize that you forgot to remove it from your mouth, you will lose your concentration and your presentation will suffer.
Since this is, in my opinion, a very necessary step in the process and space is limited, I will continue my evaluation of the mock oral in next month's article when I will discuss the proper way to enter the room of the oral board and how to answer their questions.
Stay positive.
Elvin Miali
El Miali,a retired chief of police, started his law enforcement career in 1967. In 1986 he was appointed Chief of Police of the Fountain Valley Police Department in Orange County, Ca. He was Police Chief for 17 years, prior to his retirement in 2003. Chief Miali participated in many oral boards and assessment centers and observed how difficult it was for many officers to do well in the promotional process. He wrote a book entitledUnless You're The Lead Dog, The Scenery Never Changes. Chief Miali knows what the administrators of police agencies want from their candidates, Learn more about Chief Miali and his book through his Lead Dog Promotions web site or contact him by e-mail by clicking on his name
