People tell me the strangest things. My husband is frequently amazed by the stories I recount from random people I cross paths with throughout my day; everyone from crossing guards to grocery clerks tell me stories that should be saved up for professional counseling or maybe even the cops. For most of my life I assumed I had a sort of weirdness magnet and in a way I do, but mostly what I do is listen and ask. Every person has a crazy story and even boring people have an interesting story, usually they don’t know how to tell it. I collect these stories and file them away – they will make great fodder for my fiction some day. Some people are born with the knack to interrogate nicely, but don’t worry – these skills can also be learned.

Nothing is more grating than the sound of my voice played back on any recording device. I usually comfort myself with the notion that through some high tech trickery my voice has been altered and in reality I sound like a slightly Texan version of Kathleen Turner. I call this process self-acceptance through delusion and it works for me. The last several weeks have been spent transcribing numerous interviews I conducted for a column I write and it’s been horrible and intriguing at the same time. My interviewing mistakes are undeniable and the sad thing is, I know better. Between the copious amounts of journalism classes (even in my teenage summers) to the time I spent working my way up the ladder of a prestigious market research company, and even from being the only person who did the hiring interviews for LSM the first six years, I really do know better.

Being able to conduct a quality interview can be helpful far beyond journalism. Even a computer programmer needs to be able to ask the right questions and find out what his end users need, but usually that is impossible, and they have to hire an interpreter (an interviewer). I have decided to list out some things that I have found to be important to the interviewing process. Some are my strengths, but I have also included my weaknesses. I listed these mostly as related to journalism (specifics are music related in my examples), but I feel like this translates to many situations. If you take nothing else from this, the main thing you need to learn is how to listen.

Choose an objective then be flexible with it – You know the reason you are interviewing this person. They are either the subject of the story or an expert on it. When you come up with your questions consider what your initial direction is and if the interview takes you somewhere else, be prepared to dump your questions.
Example: When writing about co-writing I thought I would be writing about friendships and instruction and found out there was an actual obligation for some writers to co-write. I had to change all my questions before I interviewed further.

Do your homework – Research the person you are interviewing. You should know at least the basics of their bio or they will be insulted that you have not done your homework.
Example: If you ask someone what CDs they have recorded, they will know you haven’t researched them. They will likely “check out” and not take you seriously.

Prepare – Have your questions and voice recorder ready.
Example: I knew I would be getting a call at some point in a 2-hour period for an interview. I hopped in my car to run a quick errand and the call came. I had to wing it and write notes on the back of my mail. Also – test the recorder and check the battery level.

Schedule smartly – Make sure you have ample time set aside.
Example: Don’t try to interview Bob Dylan ten minutes before you have to pick up your kids.

Do not use your questions as a script (listen and probe)  – You should only prepare a few questions and they should be open ended. Avoid “yes” and “no” questions. Your questions should serve as a tool to get an interview going or keep it on track, but more specific questions will come from the answers. If you concentrate too hard on the questions you have prepared, you might not be focusing on the answers and this will hinder you ability to probe further. Try to find a question directly related to the answer you were given or simply ask for more.
Example: If someone gives you a brief answer there is probably more. Say things like “why is that?” or “can you tell me anymore about that?” or even “I see” and continue to do this until the answer is truly revealed.
(note: This is really a personal interview style choice. I know people who lay out the entire interview as a script and are still successful)

Find confidence –An initial reaction when interviewing is to feel that the person you are interviewing is “put out” to give you an interview and you might shy away from questions. Remember that you are likely interviewing about something they are an expert on. Most people enjoy talking about the things they love.

Be direct – If you know exactly what you’re after, you can tell them.
Example: If you only need a quote on their feelings about smoking in bars, then tell them that.

Avoid clichés, but still ask the obvious when you need to: Some questions are so overdone. Try to avoid asking those, but that doesn’t mean you have to make all the questions complex or deep.
Example: asking an artist who they are influenced by is way overdone, but if you notice that they seem to be influenced by a specific person you could ask about that.

Allow awkward silence – If there is a pause the interviewee could be reflecting. Hold off on your instincts to fill the silence for comfort sake. Usually they will add to the point or give more information even if it is to fill the silence themselves.

Don’t interject yourself or validate the answers – It is human nature to give your opinions in a conversation or to let someone know when you agree with them. Try not to do this as it might derail the interview or skew the answers.
Example: I am the worst at this. When you completely get what the interviewee is saying it is hard not to tell your own story to relate or to say something like “You are so right!” – but you shouldn’t do this. It can get the interview way off track and you might influence their future answers. People can’t help seeking approval and they could answer differently in hopes of again seeking your approval. Weird, huh?

Save hard questions for the end or go back to unanswered questions – People are usually more comfortable toward the end of the interview. Sometimes I find if I add one more question at the end, that is the true winner. Try it. It’s also a good time to clarify or re-ask a question that might not have been answered fully.

Contact Info: When you complete the interview and thank them for their time, also ask if you can get a phone number or email address for possible follow up questions. Sometimes fact checking can be so much easier when you can go directly to the source.

Transcribe Quickly: Transcribing is the worst. If you do it right away, then you will remember things and it will go by faster without as much rewinding and stopping. A friend of mine told me I should count on 3 minutes of transcribing for each minute of interviewing – this is something else to keep in mind if you are only interviewing to get one quote.

Even if I could afford to pay someone to transcribe for me, I don’t know that I could live with another person hearing my recorded voice make so many obvious blunders. For that reason I will continue to transcribe my own extra long interviews and try to learn from my mistakes. I guess that means my goal is to be good enough that one day, I won’t be ashamed to pay someone to transcribe for me!