If you’re a writer, interviews are crucial. Talking to another human being is the single most important thing you can do to give your story life.
“DUH,” you say. But between email, social media, press releases and texting, the actual person-to-person interview is going the way of the pig-footed bandicoot. And that’s a damn shame.
Talking is the worst
Look – I hate phone calls and meetings as much as more than the next person. My parents won’t even call me anymore unless a relative (or a super-important childhood pet) dies because I have impressed upon them how much I hate talking on the phone. But there are limitations to text-only conversation that you just can’t overcome, especially when the person you’re counting on to communicate is not himself a writer. Here’s why:
- You can’t make someone feel comfortable or get them on a roll in an email.
Asking “Hey, how’s your day going? How’s the weather up there?” makes you sound like a jackass in any context other than the spoken word. - You can’t change the course of your interview halfway through when you realize the story is different than the one you thought you were telling.
If you’re interviewing Clark Kent about his super sweet glasses collection and he happens to mention flying around the world saving people’s lives , you can adjust your line of questioning. You can’t do that if you’re just pulling details from a press release. - You can’t determine tone.
The sentence “I wanted to kill that guy” sounds kind of different if someone says it seriously or while laughing. (See also: “That’s what she said.”)
I have, like, a million questions for you
So you know you have to pick up the phone. Now what? Interviews are not easy, and as a person on the asking end, I’d argue they are just as intimidating for the person posing the questions as they are to the person answering. All of the following cross my mind before every interview:
- How do I start?
- How do I get this guy to trust me?
- What if he doesn’t have time for me and he only gives me one-word answers?
- What if he has too much time for me and I have to sleep under my desk because he’s still rambling at 9 p.m. tonight?
- What if I miss something big?
Her hair is full of secrets
That last question is where the big secret comes in: How do you make sure you’re not missing the one thing that will make your story great instead of good? Here’s the answer: Ask them. Ask them if you’re missing something. More specifically, say the words “Is there anything I’ve forgotten to ask you?”
I know – it sounds ridiculously simple, but it’s actually quite brilliant. And I can say that since I didn’t come up with it; this tactic was bequeathed to me by one of the Parthenon Content Overlords: Nancy Henderson or Joe Morris. (I can’t remember which one because I didn’t write it down which is Cardinal Sin #1 for interviewing people, but you can’t judge me for that because you don’t know my life.) Anywayyyyyy…
You ask that questions for 2 reasons:
- You may have forgotten something obvious. This is the ultimate journalist CYA.
-
The person you’re interviewing always has something more they want to say but they won’t say it on their own.
She did mention the bisque, y’all.
Whether the person is a subject matter expert, a marketing manager or the subject of your profile, there will be some information – that you have no mortal way of knowing about – that they want to share, but they won’t know when to give it to you unless you ask. So ask. I can’t tell you how many a story of mine has been saved – or completely transformed – just by asking this one magical question.
Furthermore, I’ve had interview subjects who would have yada yada’d saving people’s lives had I not asked this question. (Seriously, one dude thought pulling a guy out of a burning truck – while having only one arm – was something you only mention when specifically asked. And that guy is a much more badass person than anyone else I know, so clearly his was a story that needed telling.)
The bottom line: People will not answer things you do not ask, and this the way to get around that. Ask the question you’re not asking and the story will tell itself.