Tips for successful interviewing

Having recently completed a mammoth run of 12 profile interviews for a campaign I’m working on, I’ve been reflecting on what a task this was and how I would have felt being handed this assignment 10 years ago.

As an experienced interviewer (I have been interviewing as a journalist since I got my first proper reporter gig back in 2007), I know that not all interviews are easy. Some go well, some are awkward, some catch you on an off day, and some go so well that you end up getting both a great story and a friend.

You never truly know what you’re going to get in an interview. What I do know is the process of interviewing can be as big a joy as seeing your by-line under the article that follows, so here are my top tips for successful interviewing practice.

The right amount of preparation

It’s pretty obvious, but you must know the name, role and something about the work of the person or people you are interviewing, and you should have some vision for how the copy will be presented and the themes you need to cover.

When I was a B2B journalist, half the interviews I did – especially with directors – would be curated by a marketing officer or PR representative, so the interview really only went as they had planned, but B2B life is pretty sweet, and ultimately, the organisation giving you an interview is probably buying an advert and wants to check the copy before it is published, so there is only so much you can do to get away from that without getting into trouble. This doesn’t mean your interview has to be a carbon copy of what the next magazine is doing, and I used to break the mould (where possible) by gently insisting on a personal point of view and a little personal history for editorial colour. But more on that later.

Doing your homework before an interview helps you feel prepared. You know the main events to touch upon, you are aware of any controversies. But over-schooling yourself can prevent the story from being told – its origins, the challenges along the way. So don’t treat your pre-interview research like an exam and go into the interview conversationally. Sticking to a rigid dozen questions makes it look like you’re merely bashing through a tick box list and aren’t engaging with the person speaking to you. Put the questions away and engage in the conversation. Refer to the questions again if your interviewee slows down, and as the interview draws to its natural end to check if you’ve missed anything.

From time to time, you have to go into an interview cold. Maybe your editor has contacted you about an opportunity to meet somebody right where you are in that moment? Maybe you had to fight a fire in the precious half hour you had to prepare for your interview? Don’t panic. Instead, ask your interviewee to set the scene, hear their story from their point of view, and go from there.

The environment

After years of interviewing at trade shows with noisy machines on in the background, I am very glad to put those days behind me. I cringe even now remembering the sweat trickling down my nose and back in overheated venues in Shanghai and Dubai, surrounded by the din of moving hardware trying to concentrate on my shorthand and asking questions about how many jobs an articulated robot has effectively eliminated to somebody speaking in such technical jargon that I worried how I’d ever remember what my notes meant.

Face to face in an office or meeting room is always preferable but not always possible. If you have to be on-site then try and scout out a quiet place where you can both sit at a table. Perching on a bar stool at a high cocktail table at tradeshows is common practice but almost as bad as standing up with your laptop bag in the crook of your arm. Coffee shops are also common interviewing grounds, but interruptions are common and your subject is less likely to wish to make off-record comments that can provide good context. We all have to do interviews in less than perfect settings but minimise these where possible.

Human to human

You are interviewing a person, which is why face-to-face is so much easier than over the phone or Skype, but it is not always possible.

The best way to make your interview unique is to find the human heart of the story – the human emotions that validate it. You might be writing about a software update for a machine that moulds ultra-light bottle caps (true story), but the engineer behind that upgrade, or the guy that uses the machine, must be able to offer some words of satisfaction about this news? Or was he proud of the team of developers that completed it? Are they feeling ambitious about the next upgrade?

A question I return to time and time again is that of fulfilment and satisfaction in a job done, and hopefully, this can take an interviewer off the corporate track and give themselves up to me a little bit. But many people forge their own techniques and have their own way of putting a stamp on their interviews.

The whole point of it being an interview is that it is human-to-human, otherwise, it’s a press release. Also, it is up to the interviewee to be the expert, not you. You’re not an astronaut/lecturer in slavery/polymer scientist, you’re a communicator, so use your skills to shape their story for a broader audience.

By the same token, an interviewee should in no way talk down to you or insult your intelligence – if that is the case, you have my permission to walk away. The same goes for discrimination. There are many times I wish I had walked away from sexist interviewees but didn’t have the guts in the moment - and I can tell you now that not walking away from idiots is my only regret in life.

We all fudge it

Mistakes happen. We all get the wrong end of the stick sometimes, or forget a name, or get our wires crossed. You are allowed a free pass or two – especially when you’re in a new industry. The trick is to own your mistake, apologise for misinterpreting, and move on.

I once asked a polymer scientist what material he worked with … which was pretty stupid of me. And I have started asking questions and not known how to finish that line of enquiry, instead rambling incoherently until I remember what I needed to ask. Take it in your stride and move on. At the very least, at the end of the day, you are judged on the quality of the article, nobody else need know that the interview that got you to that endpoint was less than polished. 

Transcribing

Whether you are transcribing your handwritten notes, Teeline or a voice recording, you must find a system that suits you. I prefer to transcribe from recordings the old fashioned way, by slowing recordings down to type the script up without stopping but I know many who swear by software to do the hard work for them. I have an uncomfortable relationship with transcription software because sometimes things get lost in translation – especially if your interviewee doesn’t speak in standard American or British ‘media English’. I don’t trust or expect a program to understand the nuances of an interview, when I could better tell that story by reliving how it was delivered by listening to the recording myself.

Furthermore, you need to learn to not care about the sound of your own voice – or interviewing just isn’t for you. Stop saying you hate hearing the sound of your own voice and instead listen to how authoritative you sound – assess your manner for next time. Should you slow down? Do you say ‘um’ or ‘like’ too much? Really listening to yourself can help you keep on improving. And sometimes it’s a real kick in the imposter syndrome when you hear yourself ask a really good question.

The follow-up

It is always good practice to thank your interviewees and the marketing officer or PR executive who might have set up the meeting by sending along an email afterwards. This not only helps them remember who you are should they have a story to break later, but it embeds trust. Knowing the lines of communication are open, even if they aren’t as open as some people would like, is the best way to forge good relationships. Believe it or not, the majority of non-journalists are not trusting of reporters, even when you’re doing a simple profile piece or the article has been essentially paid for. Many have been stung, or misrepresented, or dislike their story being dumbed down, so it is your job to communicate the integrity of their story.

There’s so much more to say about the joys of interviewing, and I have so many memories I can now laugh at where an interview just hasn’t gone how I would have liked. But practice makes perfect, and being a good interviewer is such a useful skill in life – especially in content creation – that mastering it is always worth it.