Interviewing skills: the Questions you Ask
We’ve all been socialized to talk with others in certain ways. We’re used to asking and being asked
questions that no real answer is expected for. “How’re you doing?” “How’s your family these
days?” We do this all the time when we make polite conversation. But to find out what makes a
person special, or to find out the dirt, or to get the revealing interview that no one else can get, we
have to employ different interviewing skills.
The way we ask a question often tells our guest what kind of answer we want. Particularly in
community radio, where we tend to interview “real people” more than professional spokespeople,
our guests will often follow our direction if we ask directing questions. Instead of doing this, we
should strive to get richer, more honest answers, and we’ll get those if we don’t shut down our
guests by the types of questions we ask. So what questions shut down our guests?
Nine Types of Questions to Avoid
1. Multi-barreled questions – Don’t ask several questions at once. Your guest will answer the
most familiar part first and best, and if they even remember the other questions after that, their
answers won’t be as good.
What to do instead: Be clear about what you want to know and prioritize – Ask it first.
2. Leading questions – These are formulated to lead to a certain type of answer. This type of
question is a good tactic to use in certain cases, but choose to do it – don’t do it unconsciously.
3. Editorializing questions – You state an opinion and ask for a response. The guest will figure
out that it’s your opinion, even if you don’t say so (e.g. “Some people say that…”). Your guest
won’t be as honest or open with you, and that’s not what we want.
What to do instead: Ask for a response to another specific person’s or group’s stated opinion, if that’s
what you’re really looking for, if that’s actually the point of your interview.
4. Questions that include an assumption – If your guest doesn’t already agree with your
assumption, they’re likely to be confused or maybe even offended. A politician will use this question
as an opportunity to take the interview away from you.
5. Trigger words – Certain words are more likely to set off your guest unnecessarily. Everybody
has words they’re sensitive to, and you can’t always know. But some words are more loaded. If you
can use a blander word in your interview, do it.
6. Bias words/biased questions – Certain phrases or words can lead to less-than-honest answers.
A biased question can be very innocuous. If you ask, “How do you like your new job?”, you’ll get
mostly positive responses – you asked how your guest likes their job. You’re likely to get a more
honest answer if you ask, “What do you think about your new job?”
7. Long rambling questions – Just don’t do it. A colorful question will usually give you a bland
answer.
8. Either/Or questions – It’s an unnecessarily closed-ended question. It limits the range of
responses, which is rarely what a reporter wants. A real person will likely just pick one option or the
other; a politician will use this question as an opportunity to take the interview away from you.
9. Verb Lead – Any question that starts with a verb is always answerable with a yes or no response.
It’s a closed question. For basic factual information, these are fine, but not if you’re exploring a
complicated issue.
What to Do Instead
The best questions have four basic qualities. They are
open-ended,
simple,
neutral, and
bland.
They’re simple but challenging questions. “Why?” “What did you say?” “What happened next?”
“What do you mean?” “What makes you say that?” “So what?” “How do you know that?” “What’s
the next step?” These are not the questions of polite conversation, so you may feel uncomfortable
asking them at first. But these are the questions that elicit colorful, complex, contextualized,
opinionated responses. And those sorts of responses make a strong base for good radio.
Interviewing skills: the Pre-Interview
Few reporters seem to do much pre-interviewing with guests. Sometimes, there just isn’t much
time. Other times, perhaps it doesn’t seem very important. But pre-interviewing can significantly
improve the interviews you record.
Pre-interviewing is a simple concept. It refers to chatting with potential interview guests before you
actually decide to record them or put them on the air. Pre-interviewing gives you the chance to
make sure a guest can string a sentence together and make sense. It lets you find out if the guest is
clearly understandable and doesn’t do a lot of ums and ahs.
Pre-interviewing also lets you decide whether your potential guest is the best person to talk to about
the story or topic you’re working on. Spend a few minutes with the person (probably on the phone)
not taping, and take some notes about what they say. Decide whether or not this person is the
person to put on-air. If they’re not, politely thank them for their time and tell them you may call
back if you have any questions.
Also, pre-interviewing gives you the chance to get through the biographical and background material
before you’re actually on the air (or tape). Find out how to pronounce their name and which (if any)
organization they’re with. Then you can condense all that information into a few sentences to start
your interview rather than starting your actual interview with pretty mundane details.
Moreover, pre-interviewing gives you the opportunity to find out what your potential guest is really
passionate about, what emotional stories they might have to share. Don’t ruin the spontaneity of
your actual interview by having the guest spill it all during the pre-interview, but ask enough
questions to find out what’re really important to them.
You aren’t always able to do a pre-interview. A guest with a busy schedule may not have time, even
though she is the one person you need to talk to. Or you may not have enough time, with a
deadline looming. But if you have a chance, try doing some pre-interviewing. It’ll save time in the
long run AND improve your interviews a great deal.
Interviewing skills: In the Interview
• LISTEN closely. Look at your subject’s eyes, not the mic (assuming it’s an in-person interview).
Stay interested and engaged. Your main job as an interviewer is to listen to your guest. Respond to
what they’re actually saying.
• Stick with the good stuff. When you hear something that moves you, feel free to talk about it
more. Have a plan for getting to the type of information you’re really looking for, using open-ended,
direct questions. Feel free to steer the conversation if the guest is being boring or evasive. You’re in
charge.
• If an interviewee avoids answering a question come back to it again and make it clear that they are
avoiding your question.
• Help the subject to be more descriptive. When you need your subject to describe something, ask
what they mean, or ask them to explain ir as if you had never heard about it before. Refer to the
“Questions you Ask” section above.
• Don’t be afraid to record again. If the subject garbles words or makes a mistake, ask them to
repeat themselves. If a story never quite gets to the end or your subject loses their train of thought,
you can ask for the ending again. “How did it all end?” Make sure you are happy with what you’re
recording. You can record as many times as necessary (as long as you’re not driving your subject
crazy).
• Ask emotional questions. Questions like “How does this make you feel?” often elicits thoughtful
responses. Don’t be afraid to ask. Again, refer to the “Questions you Ask” section above.
• Take notes. Write down any questions or stories you might want to return to later in your
interview.
• Be curious and honest. Great things will happen.
• Do NOT rehearse your questions with the guest. Spontaneity is essential to a good interview. If
you talk to the guest before hand, discuss the general topics that will be covered in the interview.
Interviewing & editing: Time-saving tips
• Take notes when you’re recording, whenever possible. When someone says something you might
use in your story, make a note of what they said and where it is on your tape.
• Don’t get too much tape. If you go to an annual conference, for example, don’t tape the whole
evening’s proceedings unless it’s for archive purposes. Try to limit how much you record, or you’ll
find yourself buried in hours of tape to wade through.
• At a press conference, pull your sources aside for interviews before the action starts. Explain that
you are in a hurry and don’t have time to stay.
• Save every phone number and email address you come by, especially mobile phone numbers.
• If you’re having trouble locating different viewpoints for your story, ask your sources who their
enemies are, and call them.
• When you find yourself with writer’s block, or intimidated by the subject you’re reporting on, walk
away from the computer for a minute and explain aloud to yourself what’s happening in the story, as
if you were talking to a friend or a child. Then transcribe those comments into your script,
verbatim. (Don’t panic: a news story is basically a list of sentences; statements which you know to
be true. Get enough of them onto the page, and you’ve got a script!)
• Read your script aloud before you send it on to the readers/hosts. You’ll inevitably find you’ve
written sentences that are hard to read aloud, and you should change them to make it easier on
yourself. Veteran radio reporters often read each sentence aloud as they type, to save time.