Interviewing approaches

There has been a long-running friendly debate on how to best conduct an interview. One view is that an interview should produce information that readers want, and that a reporter should control the scope and sequence of questions.

The main alternative view is that an interview is a conversation, and that preparing too many questions in advance tends to short circuit the conversation. Would you script a conversation with your best friend?

Perhaps the best choice is to combine the best of both approaches. We would be remiss to send a rookie reporter out to an interview with no preparation. Those prepared questions can give the reporter an anchor, particularly early in the interview.

But we need to assure reporters that the best stories often come as a surprise to the interviewer. When a source makes a surprising statement, or relates a compelling anecdote, or simply exhibits an unexpected sense of humor, a reporter needs to feel free to deviate from the script, and head into new territory.

A tool that can help a reporter who is willing to leave the script behind is a simple question: "Why do you say that?"

"Why do you say that?" or "Can you tell me more?" or "Can you give me an example?" are ways to invite the source to share anecdotes, to provide evidence, to open up.

A reporter who returns from an interview with a notebook of predictable quotes and facts is likely to produce equally predictable writing. A reporter who comes back from an interview feeling somewhat surprised will produce more energetic writing and more energized readers.

It all starts with reporters who are prepared to be surprised.