How to Become a Better Interviewer Through Preparation

TL;DR

To become a better interviewer, focus on developing your unique style while adapting to your guests and the context of the interview. Invest two to four hours in preparation, which includes researching the guest's background, collecting insightful questions, and reviewing transcripts. Crafting engaging stories and being responsive to the interviewee's personality will help you connect more effectively with your audience.

Transcript

interviewing just as a as an aside but it's not really an aside this is sort of core piece of the discussion is like anything else right it's like basketball like what makes a good basketball player well which position are they playing right what is the other team right if they're boxers like styles make fights right it's like okay just because a b... Read More

Key Insights

• 🧑‍🏭 Interviewing success is dependent on factors such as adaptability to different styles and understanding the context.
• 👨‍🔬 Preparation, including extensive research and collecting questions, is crucial for conducting successful interviews.
• 💍 Great interviewers incorporate storytelling and engaging anecdotes to captivate their audience.
• 🥰 Adapting to the needs and characteristics of different interviewees and fields is essential for mastering the art of interviewing.
• 🌱 Successful interviewers plan, prepare, and continuously improve their skills through feedback and practice.
• 💩 Understanding audience engagement and incorporating engaging elements like greatest hit stories can enhance the quality of interviews.
• 🔉 Collaborating with common friends, acquaintances, or social media followers can provide unique insights and questions for interviews.

Questions & Answers

Q: How can you become a better interviewer?

Develop the interviewing style that works best for your strengths, guests, and format instead of imitating another host. Review transcripts, collect and test questions, prepare carefully, and remain aware that different interviewees may require different approaches.

Q: How much time should you spend preparing for an interview?

When preparing alone, allow at least two to four hours, with three to four hours described as an average range. A potential big-break interview may warrant much more preparation; the Arnold Schwarzenegger interview required about four or five days of research.

Q: What should interview preparation include?

Watch previous interviews, read books, review relevant work, examine social media, and follow citations connected to unusual biographical details. You can also ask the guest for their favorite two to three long-form interviews and invite them to suggest exploratory topics or questions.

Q: Why should interviewers review transcripts?

Reviewing transcripts is described as a core part of becoming a better interviewer. It gives an interviewer material for evaluating and improving their own approach over time.

Q: How can an interviewer build a collection of strong questions?

Save compelling questions from magazines, podcasts, and conversations, then test them in interviews. One example collected from a hiring interview was asking how someone gives feedback and handles situations in which people have disappointed them.

Q: Should an interviewer follow prepared questions or explore unexpected topics?

Either approach can work when it suits the interviewer and format. James Lipton stayed with ordered questions on blue cards for Inside the Actors Studio, while other interviewers may take a conversational side door when it reveals a more interesting topic.

Q: Can an interviewer succeed without researching the guest beforehand?

Larry King came in blind so he could approach guests with beginner’s eyes and ask the naive questions a listener or viewer might have. That style worked for him, but the transcript also notes that his early position in radio should be considered when evaluating the approach.

Q: Why should interviewers check a guest’s recent social media before recording?

Social media can reveal important events that occurred after the interview was booked but before it is recorded. For example, a guest could experience a death in the family or another disaster during that interval, so checking recent developments helps the interviewer prepare appropriately.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Interviewing is like any other skill, dependent on factors such as the subject matter, the interviewee's style, and the interviewer's approach.

• Successful salespeople, podcasters, and even athletes exhibit various characteristics that make them excellent in their respective fields.

• Preparation is key in becoming a better interviewer, involving research, collecting questions, and understanding the guest's background.