Sitting in the Terry Venables Suite at St George's Park, this was no pre-meditated sales pitch as to why he should become the country's next permanent boss.
On the contrary, Southgate repeatedly refused to make himself a hostage to fortune and commit beyond the next four games as interim coach despite being asked on numerous occasions whether he wanted the position full-time.
"Do I feel that I am the right person at this moment in time to do this particular role? Yes. Absolutely," he said. "Anything else moving forward is something that needs to be considered."
Yet in recapping his career to date, he touched on the wide-ranging experiences, both good and bad, which will be a pre-requisite for the candidate eventually entrusted with succeeding the disgraced Sam Allardyce.
Southgate described his passion for England, first forged as a kid kicking a ball around with his dad and grandad, and his pride at going on to amass 57 caps under Venables, Hoddle, Keegan and Eriksson.
He talked about ingredients which fired the nation to the brink of success at Euro 96, the personal scrutiny his family would endure by the end of the tournament having been "door-stepped" in the wake of his penalty miss, and the trauma and heartache suffered at other major tournaments.
He said he has developed as a coach since spending three years at the coalface of Premier League management with Middlesbrough, and that he has learned from perceived failure.
And he outlined how his international know-how has been broadened with the Under-21s, before adding how half of the senior squad he selected on Sunday evening are already aware of his methods, including both Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford.
By the end, England's stop-gap sounded like he was starting to convince himself of his suitability, let alone the powers that be.
The challenge now is putting it all into practice, starting with the World Cup qualifiers with Malta and Slovenia over the next seven days and Scotland and Spain next month. Either Southgate sinks or swims.
"At some points in my career I have underestimated what those experiences have given me and the position they have put me in," said Southgate. "But I am quite clear on that now.
"I started kicking a ball around as a kid with my grandad and my dad. My one aim was to play for England at Wembley and I fulfilled that dream.
"I am involved in a sport I love and an industry I don't always like. I love the sport. I love watching the sport, I love taking part in the sport.
"So to be manager of my country having played many times for my country, I feel is an honour and a privilege and I'm really looking forward to it.
"That challenge of having to go across the white line, putting yourself on the block, putting your neck on the block, is what it's all about. I'm always drawn to the Roosevelt quote: 'It's not the critic that counts, it's the man in the ....' I don't know, you'll be able to look it up.
"That for me is what it was about. Otherwise, I'd still be sitting with Keano [Roy Keane] and Dicko [Lee Dixon] on the side [on the TV].
"At times you've got to step forward, at times you've got to take a risk, at times you've got to put yourself in that situation."
Some of 'The Journey Begins Here' branding Allardyce asked to be displayed at SGP has already been ripped down, but Southgate does not wish to expunge all the memories of his predecessor's 67-day reign.
If he is to succeed over the next seven weeks, he must build on the last-gasp 1-0 victory over Slovakia last month, not banish it.
"I don't think we can afford to start again," he said. "The starting point for me is what was a fantastic finish to the game in Slovakia.
"I've got some footage of the lads celebrating the goal, of the bench celebrating the goal. I'm not afraid to show that. I'm not afraid to talk about last month and Sam to the team.
"I see a lot of managers come in and dismiss what's gone. To score that late goal, to see what that meant to the players when they were celebrating, to have broken down that packed defence, which was a problem in the summer, was a small step, a small brick in the wall of belief.
"We have to build on that. It can't be the case that we start again. We can't start again after Roy [Hodgson] and start again after Sam. We've got to go forward."