These sell me this pen question is actually one of the most common interview questions that are used in sales jobs. Basically, the interviewer looks down at their desk and says," Hey here's a pen can you sell it to me?" So what the interviewer is trying to do when asking you this question is understand your ability to develop a rapport, communicate, and sell something. Now like selling anything the key is to figure out what's in it for the person you are trying to sell it to. If you are trying to interview for a position in fundraising, you will have to connect the benefit of the donation to this person. So for instance, if it were for my university I would say, " Listen I know that you really value your experience as a undergraduate, and it's because of donations from alumni like you that the university is able to create those experiences for others and it's because of donations from people before you that you are able to have that experience. So now we asked that you return the favor that you had with your university experience, by making a small donation that gives other people the opportunity." With the case of the pen, you identify what they need this pen for and how can it benefit them specifically. So for instance, the value of blue ink verses black ink, thin tips verses narrow tips, economics of a certain type of pen, comfort, and whatever the feature of the pen that seems to be the strongest and seems to connect to the person across the desk. This is actually what you want to sell and focus on.