How to Lose Control of an Interview

The concept of a media interview is simple. One person asks the questions, the other person answers them. In today’s media, with handlers, PR people and media savvy (and weary) interview subjects, interviews can get a bit more difficult to manage and if you’re not careful it can get away from you.

Who’s asking the questions here? If you find yourself talking more than listening – you are in trouble. It’s okay for an interviewee to be interested in your background or publication, but honestly your life story is not that interesting. It’s a distraction to the reason why you’re there.

Yes, yes, you’re fabulous… Flattery will get you everything, including softball questions from an interviewer. Let’s not let your self-esteem get in the way of the questions – make friends some other time.

Whoa, what was the question again? One minute your subject is talking about social media techniques, the next minute they’re talking about pruning bushes and grandma’s 80th birthday party. Keep your subject on task and on topic.

Freebies are not free. Journalists are trained not to take anything free from a interview subject. Better to die of thirst while interviewing a sub-Saharan crab than to take a drink of free water that could impair your impartial status. Bloggers are often less rigid, but know that those freebies for ‘review’ may come with strings and taint your interview.

No take backs. Subjects that want something off the record should say it before they drop the information. If they try to take something back you need to put them on notice that they missed their opportunity. Sounds harsh, but an interview full of take backs is frustrating and manipulative.

I wanna see first. Interview subjects often try to get the questions ahead of time, for pre-approval or whatever and it’s a sure way to kill an interview. It invites push back before you ever get started and obviously you lose any real spontaneity in the interview.

Let me take a peek. Your notes, your article and your recordings are yours. Unless you want to spend the next several weeks getting changes and tweaks from the subject, never reveal your notes, article, etc. until the piece is published.

There are more out there – share your tips on how to lose control of an interview below!

The Art of a Yes/No Question in Interviews

Most of the time when you’re interviewing a source you don’t want to ask yes or no questions. Nothing kills a interview faster than a transcript full of ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ and ‘I don’t know’s.’ There are times, however, when a yes/no question is both useful and necessary. The key is the follow up.

Often a good interview subject will answer the question and then elaborate on why they feel that way. If they don’t it’s up to you to ask them to give more detail. How you do it is important.

For example, say you’re interviewing a politician who has an opposition to the proposed new budget:

You: “Do you think the new budget will positively impact the city?”

Politician: “No.”

Several follow-up questions could be asked here:

• What would you like to see eliminated/added?
• Do you have a better plan that would work in the current economic environment?
• Are the issues you have with the proposed budget deal breakers or is there room for compromise?

Following up a yes/no question takes a bit of thought, but it allows you both to go deeper into the subject in a variety of ways. A simple question can open the door to so much more.