Looks like I hit a chord with last week's column on "Interviewing: The Ignored Skill." My thoughts prompted a good bit of discussion on that column's feedback forum, from both journalists and non-journalists. And I received a number of e-mails from journalists who offered their techniques on interviewing. I'll share a few of those with you.
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Les Zaitz, senior investigative reporter at
The Oregonian, sent me his outline and handout for the training he does at his paper and at state conferences. Zaitz says, "The hunger from attendees is always apparent."
I really like the way Zaitz starts out his tip sheet on interviewing.
The art of interviewing is as personal as the art of writing. Every reporter brings a different demeanor and skill to the job of interviewing ... But all interviews are designed to accomplish one mission: Get information to advance a story. This is best achieved with organization and preparation, whether it's a five-minute phone interview or a two-hour confrontational affair.
Allow me to boldface these words: ORGANIZATION AND PREPARATION. These steps greatly improve your chances of conducting a successful interview.
I also heard from Eric Nalder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and member of the San Jose Mercury News projects team who was formerly with the Seattle Times.
Nalder's thoughts were so on target on the topic of interviewing that I asked him if I could share his e-mail with readers of this column. He said, "Sure." Here goes, from Eric Nalder:
Interviewing is not an ignored skill, but I would be interested to know how many journalism schools offer a course dedicated to the craft.
I know it isn't an ignored subject because when I teach interviewing workshops a surprising number of people show up, sometimes hundreds. They seem hungry for new techniques and many participants question me afterwards looking for solutions to problems they've encountered.
I didn't learn a lot about interviewing in college, though the offerings may have changed since I graduated from the University of Washington in 1968 (and today's students are perhaps more diligent).
I learned about interviewing because of an on-the-job experience. I tell the story at the beginning of each of my workshops. There was a lawyer who was misusing debtor laws to seize people's houses. He wouldn't talk to us at first but after a series of events that began with him throwing his coat over his head to avoid a photograph, I got him in a room and questioned him. The success of that conversation two decades ago caused me to become a student of the interview.
I studied the craft by asking questions. For the last two decades, whenever I encountered a particularly skilled police officer, lawyer, FBI agent, psychologist, social worker, private investigator and, of course, journalist, I asked about their interviewing techniques. I have collected their answers and in some cases their tip sheets. And as a hobby, I read psychology/self-help books. I still have a lot to learn, and there are
workshops offered by others I'd love to go to.
Interviewing is at once an art and a science. A good interview feels like a conversation, but moves relentlessly toward the relevant truth. The successful interviewer will capture the scattered memories of the interview subject by using techniques that resemble hypnosis or by asking questions like: How do you know that?
The skilled interviewer will use memory manipulation to organize the brain of the interview subject. Ill-kept memories are recovered, and ill-understood events are brought into focus. Layers of secrecy, which are common to us all, are penetrated.
I offer sections in my workshop on reluctant sources ("ratcheting"), on liars and on ethical conduct.
Inevitably my workshop participants teach me something I didn't know. I learn something new each time I interview someone.
We have so many tools at our disposal besides the conversation. Since I began working as a reporter, the fax machine, copier, phone answering machine, computer and the 'Net have revolutionized what I do. They've all served me well.
But no device is more important than the interview. Many of us assume we were born with the ability to interview. Some of us think we were born without the skill because we are shy, or because we have problems with halting speech.
Neither assumption is accurate. To be glib is not to be a trained interviewer. To be shy is not to be handicapped.
Each of us must learn a coordinated and disciplined process for breaking into the brains of interview subjects. It involves specific questions and complex techniques. We must then master a smoothing process that slips it into an easy conversation. And we must teach ourselves to be fair.
Just as Les Zaitz stresses "organization and preparation," as essential foundational blocks for interviewing, Nalder emphasizes a "disciplined process" and "complex techniques." Wise advice from talented journalists.
And, one final note, to reiterate what Nalder wrote to me. "I still have a lot to learn," he said. Don't we all?
[ How do you learn, teach good interviewing skills? ]
