Tessa Davis says aim for three to four minutes per interview answer. Anything under two and a half minutes won't develop your points enough, and competitors who speak longer tend to score higher. Use the panel size and question count to figure out your timing.
What's the optimum length of an interview answer? This is not an exact science. On average, I would say 3 to 4 minutes for an answer is ideal. And you can have a rough calculation if you look at the length of time, who's on, the number of people on the panel, you can guess they're either going to ask you 1 or 2 questions each depending. Usually 3 to 4 minutes is good. Now you can answer for less than that. So if you answer short, so 2 and a half minutes might be okay. If you're looking at 2 minutes or 90 seconds, Realistically, you're not developing your answer enough. And so while your answer might be okay, you're going to miss out on scoring more points and someone else, your competitor, is going to take a longer time, is going to be able to develop the points, is able to score more. So if you're finding your answers are 90 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 and a quarter minutes, try and think about how to develop your points more. If you mess up, if you make a mistake, you move on. Don't go long because they're more likely to cut you off and don't go short because you're not developing it enough. So I'd aim for 3 to 4 minutes.
