"I had a boss a couple of years ago who was very intimidating. I enjoy strong personalities; however, she didn't smile very often and was a bit flat with her emotions, which is sometimes hard to navigate. I don't think she meant to be, so I would remind myself before speaking to her that she was human just like the rest of us. This approach helped me to communicate with her with much less intimidation."

"Earlier in my admin career, I had a couple of clients who would be very aggressive on the phone with their requests. I would sometimes get tripped up on my words when they called. I made myself a telephone script related to those specific instances and memorized it. This script helped me to remain on track with my thoughts when those more intimidating clients would call."

"I have a great method that I teach my crew when they have to make cold calls or have a challenging conversation with an existing client. The trick is to practice, out loud, with someone else. Have that person throw possible objections out and then try to overcome them. Once you've had this conversation a few times in practice, it will be much easier in a real-life situation."

"As a marketing director, I often have to give presentations and pitches to groups of decision-makers, which can be quite intimidating. I stand tall and remind myself to be proud of my work, no matter what they may say or think. By doing this, I ooze confidence, and the situation becomes so much easier. Also, I recently read about 'mirror neurons' in the brain. These neurons mean that people respond with similar facial expressions and demeanor so, if you are friendly and approachable, others are more likely to be as well."

"In my sales training, we learned a great deal about practicing comic visualization in intimidating situations. I have a few clients who are very alpha, and they are quite intimidating. I have used comic visualization, such as picturing them as babies or dancing in a funny costume. It's silly, and possibly one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it works!"

"When someone intimidates me, such as an upset customer who is demanding a refund that I cannot give, I will focus less on how I am feeling and more about how they are feeling. I remind myself that they are possibly having the worst day ever. By empathizing with them, the situation becomes less scary, for sure."

"When I find myself face to face with an intimidating person - like an angry parent of a student, for instance, I work hard to validate their feelings. By agreeing with them whenever possible, we are often able to relate better to each other, making the overall situation feel a bit lighter."

We have all been in a situation where we find a co-worker, customer, classmate, or professor slightly intimidating. When you answer, clearly show the interviewer that you have the self-awareness needed to recognize when feelings of intimidation arise. One way to communicate this is by telling a brief story of a time you built a relationship with someone who intimidated you at first. You should include specific details of how you developed a relationship with this person. At the end of your response, remember to connect your relationship-building skills to how they will benefit the hiring company, should you be the successful candidate.

Since this question asks 'How would you...' it is acceptable to use a hypothetical story example, giving a general overview of how you would react in this situation. However, if you want to use a real-life example, try forming a response using the STAR method. STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Organizing your response using this framework will ensure that you provide the interviewer with the right amount of information and detail to form a compelling answer.

Avoid responses that seem like you have very little agency over your feelings or actions. For instance, avoid statements like, 'When I encounter customers that intimidate me, I just smile and deal with it because it's my job to put the customer first.'