Preparing for the Interview

Let's start off today with a brief video clip -

Ahem. Yes.

This little gem illustrates a couple of points. First, the young lady doing the interview is clueless. She also seems to be someone who seems to be quite comfortable in her cluelessness. She seems to wear it as a badge of honor, or, at the very least,  is used to getting through life in spite of it. 

Second, John Cusack is a true professional, suffering through what is clearly an excruciatingly dull press junket. In a way, this was probably one of the more amusing moments of his day, and he's smart enough that he probably enjoyed toying with her. 

The main point, though, is how important it is to prepare for your interviews. Do your homework, do your research, invest time in preparing. I doesn't matter if you're interviewing the biggest star in Hollywood or your grandmother, the more you know going in, the better results you'll get. One of the most critical elements for the success of any interview is establishing rapport with your interview subject. Putting them at ease makes it much more likely they'll open up, relax, and share their story with you in an engaging, personal way.

I was once shooting for a producer who interviewed people like they were on a witness stand. He'd bark out the same preprepared questions, not looking at them, not listening to a word they said, not asking a single followup question. It made for a horrible experience for the people being interviewed - they couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. It was aggravating for me, because I kept thinking about all of the great material he would have been able to get if he would just listen to the people he was interviewing.

Interviewing is a skill, and the more you do it the better you'll get. My wife and business partner, Ilana, is a master at the sit-down interview, after almost fifteen years experience. She's able to sense when people are nervous, put them at ease, and get the answers she needs for the story she want to tell. Many times she'll ask a half dozen or more questions to start that have nothing to do with the subject at hand, just to be able to build rapport, put the subject at ease, and get them to relax. Sometimes she senses the person being interviewed is completely comfortable from the get-go, she gets what she needs and sends them on their way, not wasting anyone's time. She's a pro, and she makes it look easy. 

Who can you look to for inspiration? Some of my favorite interviewers are Charlie Rose, James Lipton and Terri Gross. (And for a fascinating example of a good interviewer faced with a bad interviewee, check out this example of Terry Gross interviewing Gene Simmons from Kiss.)

Who do you like? Who's interview technique inspires you?

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