Interviewing 101

Finding an interesting person saying an interesting phrase just when you have paper and pen handy, isn’t an easy thing to achieve. It is a process that at times can be as excruciating as pulling teeth. Other times, it can be so easy you are amazed you actually get to talk to these fascinating people. Is there one way to make an interview go smoothly? Is there one way to calm your nerves, as well as the person you are interviewing? No, but there are tips and strategies that can help you make it a bit easier.

Scheduling an Interview

The first contact you have with many people, will be when you call or contact them to request an interview. Before you pick up that phone or make that contact, you need to prepare yourself. Have a clear message prepared for an answering machine. Be prepared to talk to a real live person. Have all of your preliminary research done ahead of time and be prepared to start the interview right then and there.

Chances are you won’t be doing the interview on the very first phone call, but you should be prepared. Maybe the person you want to interview will be leaving for vacation tomorrow and will be unavailable for the next six months. There are situations where the only chance to complete the interview will be with this initial contact.

Be prepared for anything when you make the call to schedule the interview. I’ve called businesses at 8 p.m. with the intent to leave an answering machine message only to have someone answer. To remain professional, you need to have what you want to say ready no matter what happens.

Pre-Interview

Before you do the interview, you are going to want to make a few preliminary checks. Do you have plenty of paper, pens and a back-up pencil? Do you have a tape recorder, blank tape, fresh batteries and/or cord? Did you do your preliminary research on the person you will interview and jot down questions and/or items you want to ask about?

Personal Preferences

The more interviews you do, the more you will develop your own personal preferences. I prefer to take notes by hand. I rarely use a tape recorder because it is time consuming to fast-forward and rewind to find particular quotes, even with the help of a counter. Keep in mind that taping an interview can make the other person uncomfortable or too self-conscious to give a good interview. Be prepared to shut off the tape recorder if it becomes a problem.

After the interview, I will review my notes, jotting down explanatory comments to help make my notes understandable days, weeks and months later. I never change quotes, but I may write a few explanatory sentences nearby to insure I use the quotes in context.

I never prepare by writing my questions in advance. I find the questions distracting. Prepared questions don’t allow you to go off on a valuable tangent. They don’t allow for follow-up questions. I have found when I do have prepared questions, the person I’m interviewing is often distracted by them.

If I do anything, I will write a “shopping list” of topics I want to question. If I want to ask the person I’m interviewing how growing up in a single parent home influenced their decision to be a politician, my “shopping list” might say — childhood. The note makes sense to me, but won’t clue the person in ahead of time.

The Interview

Ideally you want to establish a rapport to make the person comfortable and to make your job easier. I often do this by starting with easy, open ended questions. If their name has an unusual spelling, I ask about it. If they have an unusual hobby or career, I ask how they became involved.

Try to ask something unexpected, but still pretty harmless. You want to build their trust and their comfort. The ideal interview is in person, but it is not always possible. If you do an interview by phone or e-mail, you need to make sure you are interviewing the person you think you are interviewing. It takes just a few seconds to confirm you are talking to who you think you are talking to. That is something to keep in mind even for in-person interviews.

Listen

If they are off and answering, let them run. You want them to talk and you shouldn’t be afraid to let them go for it once they start. If you need them to slow down, say so.

Let them know

If the interview is over the phone and there is a moment of silence, let them know what you are doing. Are you writing down what they just said? Are you looking over your notes to see if there was anything you wanted to ask more about? Be sure to let them know why you are being quiet so they don’t get uncomfortable or start to worry.

Sometimes, however, silence can work in your favor. Faced with a prolonged silence, people often rush in to fill the gap. Used at the right moment, it can be the key to unlock a reluctant interviewee. But be careful in using this technique. You do not want the person you are interviewing to feel conned.

Be accurate

Take accurate notes, accurate quotes and don’t be afraid to ask for further explanation. If you aren’t sure about something, than you need to ask for clarification rather than make an assumption. As soon as you make an assumption, you are going to make the wrong one.

Try to restate a complex matter to see if your understanding of it is clear. This way the person can correct any misconceptions before they ever see the light of day.

Follow up

If, when you start writing, you find you need more information or explanation, go back and ask. If a quote is awkward or strange, go back and ask. Let them correct, explain, and/or fill in. The person you are interviewing will appreciate it that much more.