Interviewing for Introverts (and Everyone Else)

As an introvert, interviewing was not a skill that came easy for me.

I still recall shaking during my first interview, a low stakes conversation about a local emergency planning committee's activities. Over the years, I've had the privilege of interviewing grieving families, public officials whose agencies we were putting under the microscope, incarcerated killers, people with stage 4 cancer, mayors, police chiefs, off-the-record tipsters, physicians, scientists, physician-scientists, spokespeople of every stripe and even the odd celebrity — Bill McKibben, George Noory, Carmen Electra.

Along the way, I picked up many tips and good habits from experienced journalists — colleagues, editors and luminaries in the field, like investigative reporter Eric Nalder — and, of course, learned from the bounty of my own mistakes.

Here are the things that have served me well:

1. Make a plan — Know at the outset what information you're hoping to get out of an interview. Order your questions so that critical questions aren't left until the very end, when you may be running short on time. But you also may not want to lead with a thorny question that puts your subject on the defensive.
2. But don't be overly wedded to your plan — Actively listen and be ready to ask good follow-ups instead of automatically jumping ahead to your next pre-written question.
3. Ask open-ended questions — How does that work? How did that make you feel? When you learned that, what went through your mind? Where did that idea come from? What problem were you trying to solve? What did you think would happen? Say more about what you mean. How do you know that? How else do you know that? (These last two I got from Nalder; he has a lot more to offer in this column.)
4. Do your homework — Learn as much as you can about your subject beforehand. If you're writing as story about new research that could help prevent heart attacks, for example, learn the fundamentals about heart attacks before you go, so you can spend your limited time with the researcher focused on their particular discovery.
5. Have multiple layers of backup — There's nothing more embarrassing than having to ask an interviewee for a do-over. No matter what your system is, employ a backup system. Computers can crash, files can fail to save, and scribbles that made sense in the moment may not be intelligible days or weeks later. Recording devices, too, can fail in multiple ways: batteries die, memory becomes corrupted, the REC button doesn't get fully depressed. Pens can run out of ink — never bring less than two! Video call interviews are common these days; ask if you can record as a backup for your notetaking; both Zoom and WebEx will even automatically create downloadable transcripts for you.
6. Be strategic in your note-taking — Don't try to write down every word. Jot down key terms and phrases — until you hear that killer quote; get that down verbatim. Maybe mark key quotes with a star so you can find them again easily. Maybe also jot down the timestamp if your recorder is in view. It can be helpful to review your notes immediately after an interview and make additional notes to fill in gaps and firm things up while the conversation is still fresh in your mind.
7. Build a habit of paraphrasing back important ideas and technical concepts — Say: "So, if I'm understanding correctly, you're saying..." This gives the subject an opportunity both to clarify and to expand.
8. It's not only about the words — Take note of an interviewee's emotional state, how they present themselves, their inflections, their gestures. The environment can also tell you a lot. Do they have art from their kids in their office or just fancy diplomas? Are there mementos that point toward hobbies and interests? Report with all of your senses.
9. Let the silence hang — Don't rush to fill silence if an interview subject is slow to answer. It will be uncomfortable for you to let the moment hang, but it will be more uncomfortable for them.
10. It's OK to ask — It's OK to ask for the meaning of an unfamiliar term or acronym, for a short pause to catch up with your note taking, or for them to repeat a really important point.
11. Get a second opinion — Often, your subjects can point you toward the broader conversation around a topic. You might ask, What kind of counterarguments do you hear from your critics? What kind of pushback have your received, and from whom? Who should I talk to for a different perspective on this? You can also ask for allies and corroborating opinions.
12. Always ask this question last — What didn't I ask that I should have? Or, Is there anything we didn't cover that you'd like to add?
13. The close-the-notebook trick — My journalist readers will know this one well. At the end of an interview, close your notebook and put down your pen, but keep the conversation (and, ideally, your recorder) going. This often puts a subject more at ease psychologically, and you'd be amazed how often the best material arrives during these final minutes.
14. Get their digits — The end of the interview is also a good time to ask for an after-hours number in case you have any follow-up questions or need to clarify something for accuracy. You can even blame your editor who "likes to ask out-of-left-field questions on deadline." Bonus: Now you have a personal number if you ever need it for future stories.

Writer friends — what tips did I leave out?