In this series, we've heard from some great interviewers—bloggers and journalists who have interviewed presidents (like G.H.W. Bush), celebrities (like Sting and Kevin Bacon), and niche celebrities (like Seth Godin and Steven Pressfield).
If you've been following along, you now know:
- Interviews are a powerful promotional tool
- You should never stake someone out for an interview
- However, chasing busy interviewees into elevators and cabs is cool
- Dumb questions make for great interviews
- When interviewing liars, meet them in person (polar bears, too)
I have one last question to the panel. “Do you have any other wisdom for us, any other secrets to interviewing success?”
“Heck yes, we do,” they say, in unison. So here is the panel for its final installment:
1. At the end of your interview…
“At the end of every interview,” says radio reporter Tor Constantino, “I always ask, ‘Is there anything I didn't ask that you'd like viewers/readers to know?' That single question has generated more golden quotes than any other.”
2. Make big asks.
Who do you admire more than anyone else in your field? Why don't you ask if you can interview them? Jeff Goins says:
Don't be afraid to make a big ask. And don't apologize when you do ask. Just ask. If you want, start with a few smaller interviews to build your portfolio. Then use those published interviews as “social proof” for the bigger asks. People will say yes. If you will put yourself out there, some will respond (many, in fact). I think you'll be surprised by how approachable people are. Just do it.
If you see anyone on Twitter, Facebook, a blog, or any kind of social media, they are prime candidates—they already understand the social nature of the web.
I'm going to go for Salman Rushdie and take another shot at Malcolm Gladwell. How about you?
3. Create a procedure for every interview.
For professionalism, Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) suggests following the following plan every time you interview:
When someone agrees to an interview:
- Send him or her a confirmation e-mail immediately;
- Include your questions;
- Tell him or her when you'll run the interview;
- Give your guest a deadline to return written interview answers; and
- If you're going to be doing an in-person or phone interview, confirm a time and date.
4. Make your subject comfortable.
“My best interviews often come when the subject being interviewed is more at ease,” says Morgan Lee. “A nervous/tense subject usually gives terse, ‘vanilla' answers.”
Chatting like a normal human is a good way to make them comfortable, according to Marissa Villa, “Listen more than you speak. But at the same time, don’t be so quiet that they’re not comfortable.”
5. Research your subject beforehand.
“Read up on the person you’re talking to,” says Marissa. “Point to facts you know about them, but let them speak for themselves.”
Morgan agrees: “Know your subject. I've talked to a number of athletes who might not be the most book-learned people. Asking intricate, long-winded questions in these instances is not advisable. Do some background research on your subject beforehand.”
I always google the person I'm interviewing beforehand, read some of their blog, and skim their book.
6. This is an obvious one, but…
“If you're doing your interview in person or on the phone, tape it,” says Porter. “You'll have a lot more actual quotes to use if you let a machine capture them instead of trying to do it all in notes.
7. For more advanced tape recorder users…
“Writing down time codes as you go is smart,” says Porter. For example, “'Talks about Empire State Building at 3:01.' You'll be able to get back to that quote quickly.”
8. To joke or not to joke?
“Laugh at their jokes even if they’re lame,” says Marissa Villa. “But make sure you have a good gauge of their personality before you try to make jokes. Last week I joked with a Catholic priest about having a dead man’s skull in his office. He didn’t think it was funny.”
9. “Stick to the plan.”
Porter says, “If you find yourself headed for a different format or run date or context than originally discussed, keep your interviewee in the loop.”
10. Network constantly.
“A few years ago, a small university in San Antonio caught fire overnight,” says Marissa. “The university president had no time to deal with me, but she did because she knew I had spent the previous year and a half covering her university’s small, otherwise unnoticed events. Other big-time reporters had a harder time getting access to her, but my small weekly didn’t. You never know when you might need someone for a story.”
11. It's not about you.
Finally, one last reminder from Porter:
“Bottom line: Do for your interviewee what you'd like done for you if your roles were reversed.”
Back to How to Conduct an Interview Like A Journalist.
PRACTICE
If you've been following our interview series, you are now an officially certified interviewer. It's time to get out there and interview someone.
Now's the time. You can do it. I believe in you!
Who are you going to interview? What are you going to interview them about? How are you going to do it? In person? Over email?
If you don't know, feel free to scramble back to the earlier posts in the series and figure it out.
Let us know how it turns out, won't you?
Awesome advice here! Thanks for this series. I’m soaking it all in.
Thanks Don. It was a lot of fun to talk to all these excellent interviewers. Glad you got something out of it.
Awesome advice here! Thanks for this series. I’m soaking it all in.
Thanks Don. It was a lot of fun to talk to all these excellent interviewers. Glad you got something out of it.
Re. the #1 tip: Right on! That’s almost always the best question I can ask. Also, on a similar note: “What do you wish people knew about (you/the topic)? What myths or misconceptions would you want cleared up?”
Nice Claire. Thanks for the input. Do you work in journalism?
Re. the #1 tip: Right on! That’s almost always the best question I can ask. Also, on a similar note: “What do you wish people knew about (you/the topic)? What myths or misconceptions would you want cleared up?”
Nice Claire. Thanks for the input. Do you work in journalism?
I just landed a phone interview with Jeff Evans from the TV show Expedition: Impossible that ran on ABC recently. If a little-to-unknown blogger landed a phone interview with a reality TV personality weeks after the show ran, you can do it too! HUGE thanks to this blog series as I have NEVER conducted an interview of any kind before. I feel like I jumped straight to the big leagues here. Hope I don’t mess this up! Nothing like on-the-job training (or trial-by-fire – whichever cliche you prefer) 🙂
Yeah Kevin! That’s awesome. You’re going to do great. In the end, just have a conversation with a new friend (and write everything he says down).
That is a great approach. Thanks!
I just landed a phone interview with Jeff Evans from the TV show Expedition: Impossible that ran on ABC recently. If a little-to-unknown blogger landed a phone interview with a reality TV personality weeks after the show ran, you can do it too! HUGE thanks to this blog series as I have NEVER conducted an interview of any kind before. I feel like I jumped straight to the big leagues here. Hope I don’t mess this up! Nothing like on-the-job training (or trial-by-fire – whichever cliche you prefer) 🙂
Yeah Kevin! That’s awesome. You’re going to do great. In the end, just have a conversation with a new friend (and write everything he says down).
That is a great approach. Thanks!
Just posted my first interview to my site, thanks in no small part (actually, a huge part) to this interview series. Let me know how you think I did! http://allthingsloss.com/miscellaneous/jeff-evans-interview
Dude!
I love it. What a cool guy. I’m really impressed Kevin. I thought you did really well. Good questions, and you got him to open up about a really cool experience.
Now go do another one 🙂
Thanks Joe…I appreciate the feedback! Thanks for reading it
Just posted my first interview to my site, thanks in no small part (actually, a huge part) to this interview series. Let me know how you think I did! http://allthingsloss.com/miscellaneous/jeff-evans-interview
Dude!
I love it. What a cool guy. I’m really impressed Kevin. I thought you did really well. Good questions, and you got him to open up about a really cool experience.
Now go do another one 🙂
Thanks Joe…I appreciate the feedback! Thanks for reading it
I have another suggestion: a Lifescribe Smart Pen. My dyslexic sisters use them in class but I find them most helpful for interviews. Using special paper and pen, you hit record and start your interview and the pen records everything that’s being said. As you take notes, jot down thoughts your pen connects that point in the interview to your notes. That way you can jump back to what exactly was being said about a topic (or if you miss something while you’re taking notes, you can hear exactly what was being said at that point). I’ve used mine for over the phone and in person interviews and only once was the person hard to hear on the recording (it was a three-person conversation and person number three was a bit far away).
Katie
Great call, Katie. Thanks for this tip. I’ve heard about those pens.
For in-person, I do something very similar and use the notepad feature on Word 2007 (I don’t know if it’s available on PC though). You can click record and then click the little speaker symbol next to the paragraph or bullet and it will replay. Very handy.
I have another suggestion: a Lifescribe Smart Pen. My dyslexic sisters use them in class but I find them most helpful for interviews. Using special paper and pen, you hit record and start your interview and the pen records everything that’s being said. As you take notes, jot down thoughts your pen connects that point in the interview to your notes. That way you can jump back to what exactly was being said about a topic (or if you miss something while you’re taking notes, you can hear exactly what was being said at that point). I’ve used mine for over the phone and in person interviews and only once was the person hard to hear on the recording (it was a three-person conversation and person number three was a bit far away).
Katie
Great call, Katie. Thanks for this tip. I’ve heard about those pens.
For in-person, I do something very similar and use the notepad feature on Word 2007 (I don’t know if it’s available on PC though). You can click record and then click the little speaker symbol next to the paragraph or bullet and it will replay. Very handy.