What makes an
Interview/Introduction
Interesting?
As part of the audience, what would make us interested in being introduced to
someone: boring facts or interesting tidbits about that person?
Which is more interesting?
Example: George was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1986.
Vs.
George was born in Savannah, Georgia during a hurricane that cut-off
power to the hospital. They had to help his mom deliver him by
sterilizing surgical tools in water heated over the lab’s alcohol burner.
Example: Susie was one of three children.
Vs.
One of three children, Susie was born the 3rd child to a family where
both parents worked. But, they had decided to put everything they
could into their children’s upbringing and had organized amazing
camping trips to Yellowstone National Park on weekends every
summer.
Example: John went to High School at Crazy Horse School for three years.
Vs.
While John attended Crazy Horse School, he somehow managed to
bring his horse to the school grounds where he gave all of his
friends rides before the Principal caught him.
Example: The fact that Sally’s family had limited funds was a drawback in her
life.
Vs.
Sally’s family had limited funds, so when she was eight, she decided to
use some of the family’s commodities to make Indian tacos and she
used the money she earned to buy her first bike. Of course, she had a
lot of help from her grandma.
Example: Brad lived with his grandparents when he was little.
Vs.
Brad’s grandfather had a huge impact on his life due to the trips they
made together to gather cedar posts. His grandfather used those times
to teach him about wildlife and the first time he saw an actual coyote
was on one of these trips.
An interviewer is like a nosy newspaper reporter; they are both mining for
interesting nuggets of information. Your job as interviewer is to find out those
unusual facts about a person that makes meeting him or her memorable…what he
or she has already accomplished in this life that everyone would admire or find
incredible.
Sure, everyone in this class has come here as a “student” to learn, but
everyone has already had remarkable experiences (maybe he or she has actually
seen Sasquatch) and it’s your job as the interviewer to bring these out with careful
questioning. If you suspect your interviewee has hidden talents, use careful
questioning to bring them out.
For instance, don’t just ask: “What are your favorite hobbies?” and they say:
“Beading” and you just leave it at that. Go deeper and ask how they got started;
how long they have been doing it; who taught them; when they have time to bead;
do they sell it or just give it to friends; have they won any awards for their
beadwork. Dig deeper for the nuggets of information that make that person
interesting and share these when you introduce him or her to the class.
This is actually what you will do in every presentation (speech) that you will
make in this class: look for facts and information that will either arouse interest or
entertain your audience. People’s lives are more interesting than maybe even they
realize and you are looking for these interesting accomplishments in the person
that you are interviewing…not just boring facts. And, keep in mind, if what you
are going to say bores you…how do you think your audience will feel?
I guarantee that if what you choose to “say” in your introduction is
interesting and fascinating…your style of presenting will go greatly unnoticed.
The attention will be shifted from you to “what you are saying”.