Five Top Tips for Interviewing an Expert

The best way to quickly get quality information for your blog or website is to interview an expert.

Experts give you such a vast storehouse of knowledge that it takes a lifetime to learn. In fact, that is why they are “experts”; They have spent many years learning their craft and will probably be happy to share their experience.

The phrase “interview an expert” can seem intimidating, so let’s change it. You are going to meet a new friend.

I spent more than twenty years in the television production business interviewing everyone from high-level politicians to psychopathic killers. (Okay, there are no jokes about how the two are terribly similar. 🙂

Sometimes I had time to prepare for interviews, but often not.

Here are the top five things I learned that were necessary for any interview to be successful.

1. Help them feel comfortable.

Some people are natural in front of the camera, but about 90% of us are nervous Nellies. Someone who is scared or intimidated will not be able to do their best.

I always considered that my number one priority was helping people feel comfortable with me, with the camera, and with the interview process.

I did this in large part by assuring them that they looked good and sounded great. Honestly, sometimes this was an outright lie, but I said it anyway.

He would joke about using the special “skinny filter” or say something like, “Now people at home don’t want to always be staring at those skinny models on TV, they prefer to see real people like you and me.”

There. That is NOT a lie and would help calm your racing heart. Also, including myself makes me a supportive ally. I’m not a beauty queen either!

In the world of journalism, you can only go so far by comforting your subject, but in business there are no limits. Assure them that you are on their side. Your job is to make them look good. If you can, let them know that they will have partial or even full control over the final product.

The reason people are afraid generally comes down to trust and control. They know you have the power to make them look like an idiotic bully if you choose to, no matter what they say during the interview.

Face it, if YOU are in full control of the production, it would be silly not to be nervous. Get them to trust you and make sure they are not your pawn. A calm person is willing to share the depths of his heart and mind.

2. A good interview is a conversation, not an interrogation.

Grilling someone police-style will shut them up faster than anything else. Ask questions as if you are meeting this person at a party and are fascinated by their work.

Most people LOVE talking about their interests. My job was to shut up and listen.

Much like when you meet someone at a social event, chances are that if you express genuine interest in that person, they will be happy to pick up the conversation from there.

Especially if I went into a blind interview, my first question would be something extremely broad like, “Dr. Smith, tell me about your work.” Then I would listen very carefully and my second question would be what seemed logical once they stopped talking. Often a broad question like that prompted them to speak for five or ten minutes. Sometimes that was all he needed. Interview over!

Often my questions weren’t even questions, they were statements. After hearing someone tell me about their problems, I would say something like, “That must have been very difficult for you,” then they would proceed to give me the details. Asking a question like that helps you sound empathetic.

Every now and then, I would share something personal about myself. That part would always be removed, but doing so helped them feel less weird.

Most interview tips begin with “Make a list of questions beforehand.” Okay, I agree that it is beneficial to do that, especially if you are a beginner. However, nothing bores the listener more than an interviewer sticking to a prepared list of questions rather than leading the conversation in a logical way. If you stick to your prepared list, your questions often sound like they’re coming out of left field.

It is best to use a prepared list of questions as a reminder during the interview about the topics and angles you want to cover. Very rarely will your pre-worded questions sound appropriate if you are caught in the middle of a conversation. Rewrite them on the fly for better flow.

3. Interview the expert with your audience in mind, not you.

As with all information publishing, an expert interview should be conducted with your audience in mind. Who are you really talking to? The answer to that question determines the language you use and the depth of your questions.

Is your audience professional in the subject area? If so, use the jargon and dig deep. If, on the other hand, you have a lay audience, avoid jargon and be general. I have interviewed hundreds of doctors and often have to ask them to explain things to me in more simplistic terms. It didn’t matter that I personally understood that a heart attack meant a heart attack. I knew that my audience probably didn’t know.

4. When asking questions, always remember to ask who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Those six little words are the principles of journalism, and often they boil down to everything you can know about a topic.

Who cares? Who does it affect? Who is not

What is affecting them? Define all aspects of it.

When is it relevant? Give time frames to add perspective.

“Where” can be asked in several ways. The obvious is, “where did it happen?” What is not so obvious is, “where can people go to learn more” and “where can people go to avoid this?

“Why” is also a small multi-faceted detail. Why it happens? Why doesn’t it happen? Because it is important? Why does it happen like this? Why do you say that?

How is this possible? How do you know that? How can people help? How is all this going to affect us?

The more questions you ask people, the easier it will be. “Really? Tell me more please.”

5. End the interview with “Is there anything you would like to add?”

Nine times out of ten, the best answer to the interview would come with that final question.

After someone has explained the big picture, you will have all the information swirling in your head and you will then be able to summarize the entire topic in a few words. That’s what television loves, short, sweet and to the point.

As an interviewer, I was well known for continuing the interview for twenty minutes or more depending on the answer to what was supposedly my final question. He often brought up the most interesting aspects, usually the ones he hadn’t even considered.

To be a good interviewer, I couldn’t allow my ego to think I knew everything. THEY were the experts; I only had a camera and a microphone. There is no way on earth that I can think of every question and that’s fine. My experts used to be grateful that I gave them the opportunity to break new ground. Unless, of course, I’d worn them out, in which case they’d say, “No, I think we’ve covered it all.”

Let’s pack up and go home. That was easier than I thought! More fun too.