Five Tips To A Great Interview
Between my two years working for a local sports section, fifteen in radio, and in the course of my own podcasts and websites, I've conducted over a hundred interviews. I've spoken, over the years, to everyone from local coaches and politicians to authors to celebrities. In each interview, I've learned a little more about the art and craft of Conversation. Every time, my goals, regardless of guest and topic, were the same: Develop rapport, set my guest at ease, get the necessary information without having to squeeze blood from a stone, and leave them looking forward to the next interview.
You may have noticed, of those four goals, only one has anything to do with the listeners. The reason for this is simple: if your guest is comfortable, if you are able to conduct a great interview, the listeners will appreciate the results. When you have a conversation, it's never about who's listening; it's about who you're talking to. In a great interview, you're not talking to the listeners, but inviting them to listen in on an intimate, informative, and even enjoyable conversation. The guest appreciates your attentiveness, and the listener cherishes the fly-on-the-wall look at an unguarded moment.
The best of these will feel unscripted, candid, and off the cuff. Ironically, this doesn't happen without careful planning.
So how do you conduct a great interview? How do you invite your listeners into a conversation that is as interesting to them as it is to your guest? Let's start at the beginning.
1. Research
Know your guest. I'm not talking only about the material they have to offer your show and your listeners, but your guest as a person. Learn about their achievements. To the extent you can, without getting all stalkery, learn about where they live, their families, where they went to school. What are they proud of? What, if anything, do they avoid talking about?
You'll get some of this information in any biographical information they send you. For the rest, you'll have to look for news items, social media, and other sources. Do they have a book out? Read it. A new album? Listen to it. Recent articles or podcasts online? Download and get familiar.
Proper pre-interview research will give you insight into the information they can provide, as well as the perspective from which they are providing it, and show you openings through which you might build rapport with your guest.
The right research will also give your interview a professional air, keep you from being surprised by the wrong things, and impress your guest with your knowledge and preparedness. Starting with good research sets you up for success every time.
2. Topic Selection
Most likely, you have an idea of topic in mind before you even select your guest. This is a good start, but it is almost guaranteed your initial topic will be more broad and unwieldy than will be strictly useful when it comes time for the interview. After you've completed your research, you'll be able to use your knowledge of your guest's particular expertise and viewpoint to narrow your focus down into more workable (and palatable) substance.
Tailor your topic to the items your guest knows the most about and finds the most personally interesting. You can figure this out by looking at your guest's body of work. What do they spend the most time talking about? On which topics do they offer personal anecdotes? This will help ensure you not only get the best information from your interview, but that your guest will be more at ease, animated, and charismatic.
3. Three to Six Questions
These are the general questions you'll be sending to your guest before the interview. They are general, designed to open up the conversation. Follow-up questions, which you will come up with during the course of the interview based upon your guest's responses, will provide for color and details. The point of the three to five general questions is to give your guest an idea of the tone and topic of conversation, and to get the conversation started. You'll combine your research and narrowed topic to ask questions your guest will respond to with interest and expertise.
These questions will fall into three categories:
A. Background (first one or two questions)
Establish your guest's bona fides. Background questions will establish who your guest is, and why he or she is an expert on your topic. Give your guest the chance to brag a little.
Establish your guest's bona fides. Background questions will establish who your guest is, and why he or she is an expert on your topic. Give your guest the chance to brag a little.
B. Topic (2-3 questions)
General questions about the actual topic at hand. Formulate these questions based on your research into your guest's particular interests and focus. Again, these are opening questions. Use these questions to introduce sub-topics, not to follow up on the previous question.
General questions about the actual topic at hand. Formulate these questions based on your research into your guest's particular interests and focus. Again, these are opening questions. Use these questions to introduce sub-topics, not to follow up on the previous question.
C. Invitation (last 1-2 questions)
This is where you invite the guest to share with your listeners ways to learn more about him or her, find his or her books, blogs, articles, podcasts, or whatever. This is the value-added portion of the interview, and probably the reason your guest agreed to the interview in the first place. It's a quick promotional piece that will provide information on current or future products and events, as well as inform the listener about where they can go for further info.
This is where you invite the guest to share with your listeners ways to learn more about him or her, find his or her books, blogs, articles, podcasts, or whatever. This is the value-added portion of the interview, and probably the reason your guest agreed to the interview in the first place. It's a quick promotional piece that will provide information on current or future products and events, as well as inform the listener about where they can go for further info.
4. Build A Rapport
A good interview doesn't consist of questions and answers; it is a conversation between two people, the host and the interviewee, and the listeners. These conversations work best when they feel natural and unscripted. When there is mutual respect between the interviewer and interviewee and, indeed, an air of friendliness and familiarity. This sort of rapport doesn't happen by accident. It starts with you, the host, making your guest feel as comfortable as possible.
When I schedule an interview, I will generally try to add an additional ten to fifteen minutes to the expected time (which is itself also padded against what you're actually planning to air: if I want a thirty-minute interview, I plan for a 45-minute interview and ask my guest for a full hour). Why so much extra time? Rapport. I spend ten to fifteen minutes of the interview getting to know my guest. Yes, I've done the research. I know what Wikipedia and social media have to say. I've read the recent articles. But that's all background. Your guest--the person you want to get to know--is now sitting in front of you, so to speak. Now is the time to relax, let down your guard, and allow them to do the same.
I might ask about the weather, and how it's affecting work and/or school. If they have a spouse or kids, maybe I ask something innocent and decidedly non-probative about them. Nothing that'll put your guest on the defensive or give reason to put their guard up. I give what I take; if I ask about their kids, I share an anecdote or two about my own. We laugh, have a good time. Done right, your guest will barely know when the tape starts rolling (*even though you make sure to tell them when the interview begins). If this goes well, you can continue the banter right on into the interview--hence the reason to a little padding around the time. Allow for rabbit trails, but know how to bring it back to topic if you need to. Rabbit trails may lead you to something interesting, that your audience will find useful or entertaining--but more than that, it simply keeps alive that sense of camaraderie you've worked to build.
Have fun with your guest. Allow yourself to truly enjoy his or her company and be truly thankful for the time they're spending with you. Both your interviewee and your listeners will thank you for it.
A good interview doesn't consist of questions and answers; it is a conversation between two people, the host and the interviewee, and the listeners. These conversations work best when they feel natural and unscripted. When there is mutual respect between the interviewer and interviewee and, indeed, an air of friendliness and familiarity. This sort of rapport doesn't happen by accident. It starts with you, the host, making your guest feel as comfortable as possible.
When I schedule an interview, I will generally try to add an additional ten to fifteen minutes to the expected time (which is itself also padded against what you're actually planning to air: if I want a thirty-minute interview, I plan for a 45-minute interview and ask my guest for a full hour). Why so much extra time? Rapport. I spend ten to fifteen minutes of the interview getting to know my guest. Yes, I've done the research. I know what Wikipedia and social media have to say. I've read the recent articles. But that's all background. Your guest--the person you want to get to know--is now sitting in front of you, so to speak. Now is the time to relax, let down your guard, and allow them to do the same.
I might ask about the weather, and how it's affecting work and/or school. If they have a spouse or kids, maybe I ask something innocent and decidedly non-probative about them. Nothing that'll put your guest on the defensive or give reason to put their guard up. I give what I take; if I ask about their kids, I share an anecdote or two about my own. We laugh, have a good time. Done right, your guest will barely know when the tape starts rolling (*even though you make sure to tell them when the interview begins). If this goes well, you can continue the banter right on into the interview--hence the reason to a little padding around the time. Allow for rabbit trails, but know how to bring it back to topic if you need to. Rabbit trails may lead you to something interesting, that your audience will find useful or entertaining--but more than that, it simply keeps alive that sense of camaraderie you've worked to build.
Have fun with your guest. Allow yourself to truly enjoy his or her company and be truly thankful for the time they're spending with you. Both your interviewee and your listeners will thank you for it.
5. Listen
Listening finds itself at the end of this list because of chronology, not because of importance. If I'd listed these in order of import, "Listen" would be first, last, and always. As mentioned above, your three to six questions are starters. They are there so the guest knows what to expect, and so you have something of a road map for your conversation. If, however, you ask the questions and only half-listen to your guest's responses, I can guarantee you a short, uninteresting, and ultimately unsatisfying interview.
Your guest will know if you're not really listening or only lending half an ear. They'll know it by your responses, or lack thereof. They'll know by the questions you ask, whether you're following up with something they've said or just moving along to the next question. And they'll definitely know if you wind up asking a question they've already answered!
Great conversation can't happen without great listening skills--and a professional interview is simply impossible unless you are providing your guest with the courtesy of your full attention.
These tips will not guarantee you a great interview. Unfortunately, nothing will. Much will come down, not only to your own comfort with being in front of the microphone but to your guest's as well! So, no, I don't make any guarantees save this one: Following these tips will definitely get you on the right road to a great interview, just as surely as ignoring them will put you right into the weeds.
So enjoy your next interview! Come prepared, have fun, and be ready to listen!
Listening finds itself at the end of this list because of chronology, not because of importance. If I'd listed these in order of import, "Listen" would be first, last, and always. As mentioned above, your three to six questions are starters. They are there so the guest knows what to expect, and so you have something of a road map for your conversation. If, however, you ask the questions and only half-listen to your guest's responses, I can guarantee you a short, uninteresting, and ultimately unsatisfying interview.
Your guest will know if you're not really listening or only lending half an ear. They'll know it by your responses, or lack thereof. They'll know by the questions you ask, whether you're following up with something they've said or just moving along to the next question. And they'll definitely know if you wind up asking a question they've already answered!
Great conversation can't happen without great listening skills--and a professional interview is simply impossible unless you are providing your guest with the courtesy of your full attention.
These tips will not guarantee you a great interview. Unfortunately, nothing will. Much will come down, not only to your own comfort with being in front of the microphone but to your guest's as well! So, no, I don't make any guarantees save this one: Following these tips will definitely get you on the right road to a great interview, just as surely as ignoring them will put you right into the weeds.
So enjoy your next interview! Come prepared, have fun, and be ready to listen!
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