1. Prepare notes, and don't be afraid to toss them
Good interviewers always study up on their interviewee’s background. Going into an interview dry is disastrous and quite frankly disrespectful. Your subject has taken time to be on the show, honour your side of the deal and do enough homework to conduct a good quality interview. It doesn't matter which member of the broadcast team conducts the pre-interview research, as long as the presenter is comfortably briefed the interview should be smooth.
However, it must be said that during the moment of truth, you rarely see a professional interviewer following a script or referring to notes. They're in the moment, entirely focused on what their subject is saying. A better, more casual approach is to stay in the moment and allow talk to flow naturally, as TV talk show veteran Dick Cavett advises:
“My former boss and idol for many years as a viewer, Jack Paar, called me before I started doing a talk show and said, ‘Hey kid, don’t do interviews.’ And I said, ‘What do I do, then, sing or just read to the audience?’ And he said, ‘No, interviews are boring. That’s just ‘What’s your favorite colour?’ and that’s dull. Make it a conversation.’ And that’s almost the best secret. Throw your notes aside, if necessary.’
However, it must be said that during the moment of truth, you rarely see a professional interviewer following a script or referring to notes. They're in the moment, entirely focused on what their subject is saying. A better, more casual approach is to stay in the moment and allow talk to flow naturally, as TV talk show veteran Dick Cavett advises:
“My former boss and idol for many years as a viewer, Jack Paar, called me before I started doing a talk show and said, ‘Hey kid, don’t do interviews.’ And I said, ‘What do I do, then, sing or just read to the audience?’ And he said, ‘No, interviews are boring. That’s just ‘What’s your favorite colour?’ and that’s dull. Make it a conversation.’ And that’s almost the best secret. Throw your notes aside, if necessary.’
A good interviewer knows how to make subjects comfortable enough to open up and reveal something real and true about themselves – and that only comes when both parties get a little vulnerable. That’s why comedian Marc Maron, host of cult favorite podcast WTF, focuses more on connection than research:
“I don’t do a hell of a lot of research. I go on a sort of kindred-spirit bonding that preexists the interview, and just see what unfolds. I’m just looking for authentic engagement of some kind … Some people just want to answer questions, but a lot of times, all of a sudden you drift away, and you don’t remember you’re on the mic, and you’re in something real. That, to me, is great.”
“I don’t do a hell of a lot of research. I go on a sort of kindred-spirit bonding that preexists the interview, and just see what unfolds. I’m just looking for authentic engagement of some kind … Some people just want to answer questions, but a lot of times, all of a sudden you drift away, and you don’t remember you’re on the mic, and you’re in something real. That, to me, is great.”
2. Match Your Partner – in mood, energy level, language and body language
“The more comfortable you make someone feel, the better interview you’re ultimately going to get,” says interview veteran Katie Couric.
And how do you make someone feel more comfortable? Great interviewers do it by meeting subjects on their level. That means matching their mood, energy level, language style – even body language. If your presenter can calibrate their tone and energy level it will the stage for an evenly matched conversation and put their subject at ease. Mirroring the body language of the person you’re speaking with is a nearly subliminal cue to show that you’re fully present in the conversation, your presenter should keep this subtle.
3. Practice flexible listening
What seems like the simplest part of holding a conversation or conducting an interview is often the trickiest. It’s listening – the right way.
Skilled interviewers become adept at listening not just to the words their subject is saying but also the tone in which the words are said, the pauses and nuances of the answer and what’s being left unsaid. This active, flexible listening lets them know when to move onto a new subject and when the moment is ripe to probe a little deeper with a follow-up question.
As we've discussed, off-the-cuff questions can yield the best answers – but the opportunity only arises from engaged listening. Take a lesson from Katie Couric and stay poised to change direction based on what happens in the conversation.
As we've discussed, off-the-cuff questions can yield the best answers – but the opportunity only arises from engaged listening. Take a lesson from Katie Couric and stay poised to change direction based on what happens in the conversation.
“Nothing is worse for me as a viewer than to watch someone go down a laundry list of questions and not explore something with a little more depth after someone has answered a question … I think you need to use your questions as sort of a template, but you have to be willing to listen and veer off in a totally different direction.”
4. Activate the Power of the Pause
Inexperienced presenters fear silence. However, sometimes it can be a useful tool. When a pro-interviewer feels an interviewee is holding something back on a particular topic, they'll often use the power of silence at the end of the answer to draw out more information.
Here’s how PBS newsanchor Jim Lehrer describes it:
“If you resist the temptation to respond too quickly to the answer, you’ll discover something almost magical. The other person will either expand on what he’s already said or he’ll go in a different direction. Either way, he’s expanding his response, and you get a clear view into his head and heart.”
Here’s how PBS newsanchor Jim Lehrer describes it:
“If you resist the temptation to respond too quickly to the answer, you’ll discover something almost magical. The other person will either expand on what he’s already said or he’ll go in a different direction. Either way, he’s expanding his response, and you get a clear view into his head and heart.”
Advise your presenter to count to three – or five if they can bear it – after the subject answers a tough or thoughtful question. This method can seem agonising at first, but when used with empathy it works wonders to develop a deeper rapport between two people. BBC 6Music's Mary Anne Hobbs describes the moment when David Bowie was moved to tears in interview after hearing a birthday message from one of his earliest idols (1.00 in)
"Years ago I interviewed David Bowie for a BBC Radio 1 documentary to celebrate his 50th birthday. I brought with me many messages and questions from other artists who had been influenced by Bowie's work and adore him. After listening to a deeply poetic birthday message I delivered to him from Scott Walker, David was speechless. There were tears in his eyes. It's one of the most poignant and moving pieces of radio silence ever. It actually lasted about thirty seconds longer in real life, but you were only allowed ten seconds of silence at Radio 1 so we had edit it so that the emergency backup tapes at the BBC Control Room didn't kick in. Finally, Bowie says: "I see God at the window."
Since our natural tendency is to fill in a silence, the pause can also work for your presenter as a power play in a tougher scenario. Dick Cavett explains how he employs it tough-love style with interview guests:
“You can hold someone with silence and make them go on. You tend to feel you need to fill all dead air. There are times when if you just say no more than ‘uh-huh,’ and pause, they’ll add something out of a kind of desperation that turns out to be pretty good. Let them sweat a little and then they’ll come up with something that they were perhaps not going to say.”
“You can hold someone with silence and make them go on. You tend to feel you need to fill all dead air. There are times when if you just say no more than ‘uh-huh,’ and pause, they’ll add something out of a kind of desperation that turns out to be pretty good. Let them sweat a little and then they’ll come up with something that they were perhaps not going to say.”
5. Cultivate curiosity, the Dale Carnegie approach
All of these techniques are tried and true, but they don’t really work without one simple quality on the interviewer’s part: curiosity. You can cultivate curiosity in your daily life by noticing more details, delving deeply into the ideas that grab your interest and being alert to those around you and what makes them light up. As Dale Carnegie famously explained in his best-selling book 'How To Win Friends and Influence People', the beauty of curiosity is that it makes you nearly irresistible to everyone around you.
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
6. Practice Ego Suspension: The Power of Forgetting Yourself
Everyone would like to think of themselves as attentive and curious but one little thing gets in the way: our egos. It’s not our fault – we’re hardwired that way. After all, talking about ourselves feels as good to our brains as money or sex.
That’s why ego suspension is so essential to cultivating the kind of curiosity that will help your presenter connect with their interviewee. Robin Dreeke, lead instructor at the FBI’s Counterintelligence Training Center in behavioral and interpersonal skills training, explains:
“Most times, when two individuals engage in a conversation, each patiently waits for the other person to be done with whatever story he or she is telling. Then, the other person tells his or her own story, usually on a related topic and often times in an attempt to have a better and more interesting story. Individuals practicing good ego suspension would continue to encourage the other individual to talk about his or her story, neglecting their own need to share what they think is a great story.”
Don't believe me? The next time you find yourself at a social event resist the urge to tell that one signature story that's always a smash hit. Instead focus on asking questions of someone new and focus on listening to their answers. It may seem a bit boring at first, but you might be amazed at the end result.
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