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Hey there, I'm Jen Furlong, host of the Communication 24-7 podcast, where we communicate about how we communicate, and today I'd like to communicate about interviews. Now, as a Communication and Media Specialist, I research communication skills. It's the heart of what I do and as a podcaster, I know just how important it is to be able to have a successful interview. But how do the pros do it? Well, it all starts with having a good conversation, and if you're like me, you love a robust conversation. And it turns out that podcast listeners are no different. As a matter of fact, the research shows that out of the top 10 most popular podcasts, eight of them are conversational. So even when the hosts bring in a guest to interview the most successful ones, they're able to make it sound like a good conversation. It's not an inquisition. They allow the conversation to unfold organically. But what's the skill set in order to make this happen? Well, if you're to ask their guests, they usually describe their interviewers as people who are really good at listening. They're relatable and they don't mind asking the tough questions, but they remain respectful throughout the interview. The pros do make it look easy, but there's a lot of preparation that goes into it. Interviewing is a skill just like any other skill. So to take it from an interview to a robust conversation, you have to allow a synergy To be created, and that's where the listening skills come in, that's where the relatability comes in and that's where the willingness to ask the tough questions come in. If you can allow this synergy to build, then you are able to do a deep dive into the topic. You're no longer just discussing the topic at the surface level. You're exploring the topic together with your guest. Sometimes you might reveal a new idea, sometimes you might learn about a different perspective, sometimes you might have to model what a healthy debate looks and sounds like for your audience, but every time you should be bringing something of value to your listeners. So how do we do that? Well, interviewing is a skill just like any other skill. So it takes time, effort, preparation and practice. So I want to share with you five tips that you can begin practicing today so that you can elevate your conversations and take your interviews from good to great. Tip number one begin with the end in mind. You need to have a blueprint, a way to be able to set the tone for your conversation, and that's going to require you to consider three things. Number one what is your goal of the episode? What is it that you hope to achieve by the end of the episode? The second thing to consider is your audience. What do your listeners expect from your episodes? Do they expect to learn something? Do they expect to be able to have a solution to a common problem? Do they expect to have their way of thinking challenged because you like to bring in guests from a variety of different backgrounds and values and belief systems? After you've figured out what your goal is, and then after you've figured out what your audience's expectations are, then the third thing that you need to consider is your guest. Is your guest up to the task? Are they going to be able to deliver Now? If you are already familiar with your guests, you should be able to answer that pretty easily. However, if you're not familiar with your guests, then you want to do a little bit of homework. You need to vet that guest so you can make sure that they understand what the expectations are and that you're on the same page. Now I like to do two things in order to vet my guests. Number one I like to have a pre-interview Now. It doesn't take very long. I usually spend about 10, 15, maybe 20 minutes if we're having a really good conversation. But the reason I like to do pre-interviews is because it helps me build a rapport with my guest, especially if I don't know them very well. I don't want the first time that we're having a conversation to be the day of the interview, the day that we're going to actually record. I want to be familiar with their conversational style. I want them to be familiar with my conversational style. So building that rapport is very important to me and I'm able to do that through the pre-interview. But there's another thing that I'm doing. While I'm having that pre-interview, I'm vetting my guests, the ones that I'm not very familiar with. I need to know that they can deliver. So I want to make sure that they understand that ultimately my listeners. I want to make sure it's very important to me that they get something of value out of our conversation, so that's what they need to bring to the table. If I realize throughout our conversation that they're there only to self-serve, they're going to self-promote and that's what their goal is, then I won't have the interview. I won't invite them onto my show. So doing the pre-interview is a great way to be able to vet the guests and build a rapport. Now, if you're not able to do the pre-interview or you don't trust someone enough to do the pre-interview for you, then you can do some homework, you can do some digging, and I'm going to address that in tip number two. But for now tip number one remember to begin with the end in mind, so that you can build that blueprint and that you can set the tone of the conversation. Now, tip number two you need to be ready to prepare your own questions Now. Yes, a lot of times guests will provide you with a press kit, and sometimes those press kits might include questions that they've already vetted, questions that they are already prepared to answer, and that's OK. Sometimes they're even really good questions. But the problem is, this is your show, this is your episode, and they've already given that press kit to everybody else who has already done an interview with them. And you don't want your show to just be a repeat of all of those other shows. Think of this as your opportunity to do something unique, to have a conversation with them in such a way that it's going to bring about new ideas, new information, inexclusive, if you will. So make sure that you are preparing your own questions. That means you got to do your homework. This is a way to also vet your guests if you don't know them very well. Doing your homework Now, there are three ways I like to do homework on my guests whether I need to vet them or whether I'm preparing new questions for them. First thing, I go to their website. Now, you might not learn a whole lot of new things about them on their website, but it can be useful. Maybe they have a favorite quote, or maybe there is a story on their website that you find interesting. That could be the catalyst for some pretty good questions. Don't stop there. Move on to a Google search Now. In the Google search, you might find out that their local paper wrote a story about them, or you might find out that they were awarded some big time award in the past. That could be a really cool conversation to get into. Don't stop there, though. Now what I like to do, in addition to the Google search and going to their website, I also like to do a deep dive into their social media platforms. You never know what you're going to find in there. So look at their posts, look at their tweets. There might be something that peaks your interest, and then you might find out, you know what. That's actually a really interesting perspective. I think this is how I'm going to start the conversation, so that could create a unique conversation for your audience, something that's different from all of the other podcasts that they've already done. So do your homework. Look at the website, the socials and the Google and write your questions. Now, as you write your questions, it's important to understand Good journalists. What they do is they focus on who, what, where, when and how. This is very important. These are called open-ended questions. Avoid close-ended questions that begin with things like did you or do you, or have you or will you? If you ask a yes or no question, you're probably going to get a yes or no answer, so you want open-ended. What that does is that invites your guests to take the space they need to be able to answer the question. You want them to develop a meaningful answer. That's going to be more meaningful for your listeners. As you're asking your questions, though, remember hopefully you've begun developing a rapport, so think about go back to your goal and what type of interview you're wanting to have. You're setting the tone, remember. So, if it's a light-hearted interview, you're who, what, where, when and how questions. That's going to be really good. But if you want the type of interview where you want to do a bit of a deeper dive you might want to talk about a topic that maybe it's a little bit controversial, or a hot button issue, a current event of the day you need to be able to go past those types of questions and then dig into the why. So why questions will require that your guests use some critical thinking skills and it's going to require your listeners to use some critical listening skills, and this is a great thing. So make sure that you organize your questions in a way where you are building rapport, start with the easy questions and then, if you have some more difficult questions, move those questions in toward the end of the interview. And finally, if you have a question that you think it is possible that your guest might get offended or it might even make them angry I don't know, they have some type of weird reaction to it definitely save that question for the very end of the interview. That should be the last one you ask. That way the rest of the interview is saved and if they do get upset, no worries, you still have the rest of the interview that you can rely on for the recording. So prepare your own questions, be unique and have your audience be able to hear something new from your guest. Now. Tip number three go with the flow. If you want to have a robust conversation, you need to have the flexibility to go where your guest is leading. Now, that doesn't mean throw all of your questions out the window. That just means that as new doors make an appearance, don't be afraid to go through those doors, and that's going to require you to be willing to go with the flow. Now, as you have your list of questions, I know it's important to you to get through those questions. However, you need to understand that a lot of times, your guest might go ahead and answer those questions while they're answering the other question, as they're telling their story. So don't be so stuck on those written questions that you go back and you ask a question that they already answered. That's going to make you sound repetitive and it's going to make you sound like you're not listening, which is actually the next tip that I'm going to talk about. But before we get to that, let's say that this is a part of the going with the flow. Let's say that there really is a burning question that you have to ask, but you feel like you missed your opportunity because your guest was rambling. No worries, it's OK, I got you. You can use a transitional statement, and a transitional statement sounds something like this that's a really great point that you just made and it actually reminds me of something that you said earlier. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to circle back to that and then you ask the question. So that way you're transitioning smoothly, the audience is, it's easy for them to follow and you're guiding your guest back on track so that you can ask that question and you can get the information out to your audience. Now, going with the flow doesn't mean, like I said, throwing out all of your questions. You might find that throughout the interview, as you put out those new questions, your guests might be a little surprised and, even more importantly, they might even get a little excited at being asked something different. Now, one of my guests one time she was so used to answering the same questions over and over and over again that when I began doing the deep dive and I asked her some unique questions that I was able to get from reading her book and then looking at some of her social media posts. She told me at the end of the interview, after we finished the recording, that although I surprised her with some of those questions, it was a pleasant surprise and she said it caused her to think about her topic in a slightly different way, gave her a little bit of a different perspective. And then with that, she got excited because she said now, as an author, I feel like I can go back and do some additional research and I'm going to continue writing about this topic. So how cool is that? So that's tip number three. Just go with the flow In. Tip number four practice mindful listening. Notice, I didn't say active listening. One of my biggest pet peeves as a communication specialist is when I listen to others, try to give advice on what they call active listening. You know this advice Lean forward, make strong eye contact, nod your head, and then you can respond with things like hmm, yes, that's interesting, because that's going to let them know that you are actively listening. Well, here's the problem with that If you're actually listening to them, you don't need to focus on your nonverbals, because you're going to do them naturally anyway, because you're actually listening to them. So I like to advise that you practice mindful listening. In order to practice mindful listening, you don't focus on your own nonverbals. You focus on your guests nonverbals. This is very important in an interview. Now, if you have the advantage of having them physically in front of you, that's awesome, because what you can do is you can pay attention to their facial expressions, you can pay attention to their posture, you can pay attention to their hand movements, all of those things, because those nonverbals are going to give you a clue as to what they're thinking and how they feel about the topic. Now, if you don't have the advantage of being able to see them, that's perfectly okay. You can still pay attention to their nonverbals. You just have to listen very carefully to the vocal variety that they're using. How are they actually answering the questions? And I don't mean just the words that they're using. I mean, it's not just what they say, it's how they say it. So listen to the volume, to the pitch, to how fast they're speaking. All of those things will also give you a clue as to what they're thinking and how they're feeling about the topic. That's very important. Now I do also want you to listen. I encourage you to listen up for key words, because, remember, I said, go with the flow Right Before I talked about mindful listening. Tip number three was go with the flow. So you can't go with the flow if you're not practicing the mindful listening and listening out for the key words. I cannot tell you how many times I was listening to an interview and something piqued my interest. It was a keyword that they used and I was like, oh man, this would be a fantastic follow-up question and then I would wait for the interviewer to ask the follow-up question, but they let the opportunity slip through their fingers. It was so disappointing. You don't want to be that interview. So make sure that you are practicing the mindful listening while going with the flow so you do not miss the opportunity to ask those really good follow-up questions. Remember, this is a unique interview, so you got to be mindful of that. Finally, tip number five Do not underestimate the power of the pause. The pause is so important in an interview, in any conversation. Really. The pause serves many important functions, but I'm going to highlight a few of them for you Now, for you as an interviewer the pause if you are uncomfortable with silence, you need to get comfortable with silence really fast, because the pause helps you as the interviewer. If you try to jump in too early because your guest is taking their time and answering the question, you run the risk of becoming a conversational narcissist, and you don't want that's like the death knell for an interview. So practice waiting just a bit longer, even if it gets uncomfortable, because you need to give your guests the space that they need to reflect. And that's the second reason why a pause is so important Give your guests the space that they need to reflect so that they can provide you with a meaningful answer. And then the third thing to keep in mind why are pauses so important? For your audience, your listeners? You don't want them to run into information overload. So, just like it's important to give your guests the space they need to reflect, allowing those pauses to happen gives your listeners the ability and the time to reflect. Also, that allows them to take in the message and it makes the message more meaningful to them, and that's what's going to keep them tuning back in every time. Now, if you can combine pauses with mindful listening, that creates a powerful tool that's going to get your guests to continue talking, continuing sharing with you. I had a guest. One time, toward the end of our conversation, she shared a story with me. Frankly, it was such a privilege and an honor to know that she trusted me with this story. So, by the end of our interview, she revealed that her husband had committed suicide. Now, what makes this so special? Not only was she just sharing something so intensely personal and she was in such a vulnerable moment, but she told me that that was the first time ever that she had told that story. She had never shared that story of her husband's suicide with anyone else, especially not in an interview on a podcast. That was a special moment for me as an interviewer, because I was. She trusted me with her vulnerability and the only way that I was able to make that happen was because I gave her the space and the time she needed to be able to think about sharing that with me number one and then feeling the rapport that we were able to develop together. So she was confident enough to share that with me. What an amazing moment for me as an interviewer. So those are the five tips that I have for you Make sure that you begin with the end in mind, so that you can understand what your goals are and understand what your audience expects. And then from there you need to make sure that you develop your own unique questions, do your homework so that you can have a unique story to share with your audience. And then you need to be able to go with the flow. Even if your guest tends to ramble a little bit, that's okay. Go with the flow. You can always edit out the stuff that you don't want later, open the doors that present themselves, ask the follow up questions. That's what makes for a great interview. Practice the mindful listening so that you can pay attention and pick up on the key words and anything that peaks your interest, so you don't let any good stories fall through the cracks. And then also, finally, don't underestimate the power of the pause. We just talked about that. Combining all of this together, these things together, will create an amazing conversation. Remember, interviewing is a skill, just like any other skill. We got to practice at it right. So practice it and then do some reflection and then make some adjustments and then practice it some more, and I promise you, if you keep doing that, before you know it you're going to be interviewing like a pro. Thank you.
