The Art Of The Interview

The first question in an interview is vital. With the first question you set the tone of the interview, generate rapport and trust, and continue the process of creating a container of intimacy for the interview. So you don't want to screw it up! In this episode, I talk about some different ways to start the interview strong...and some ways not to start the interview! Hopefully this will spark your...

When you go into an interview, you're the leader. You're setting the direction and guiding the interviewee through the experience. If you're not in the lead, they won't know where to go, and subconsciously they're going to shut down and not give you the answers that you're looking for. In this interview, I talk about my own experience embracing leadership as an interviewer. I also talk about 5 les...

Do you ever take a few minutes before to direct and orient your interviewees related to the coming interview? If not, you should. Likely they're uncertain and unconfident, and giving them this little bit of direction can go a long way to making them feel safe, comfortable, and relaxed enough to give you a good performance once you start. In this episode, I cover, first, why it's important to do so...

I know it's a little presumptuous of me to compare myself with Tim Ferris, but I know one thing we do have in common. We both focus heavily on the pre-interview. In this episode, I talk about why doing pre-interview research and preparation is essential to getting a good interview. I also talk about my own pre-interview history and style, plus I talk about what Tim Ferris does (which, by the way,...

There's quite a bit of crossover between what works well in an interview and what works well in a casual conversation over coffee. A lot of techniques to create safety and intimacy can readily apply to both, and personally I use them in both areas quite often. In this episode, I talk about three such techniques that can easily be translated from the interview to the coffee shop. With these three t...

We are the product of deeply-seated beliefs, feelings, and assumptions that we believe about ourselves, others, and the universe.  And whether we acknowledge it or not, we bring these assumptions into how we conduct ourselves in our interviews. In this episode, I explore 3 conscious assumptions I try to bring into the interviews that I do.  1) That people are foundationally good 2) That...

How do you handle difficult emotions, both inside yourself as well as when an interviewee experiences them during an interview? When someone gets angry, sad, hopeless, or inordinately elated during an interview, sometimes it can be difficult to know what to "do" or how to deal with the power of the emotions they're expressing! In this episode, I explore one of the psychological foundations of my i...

Interviewers are humans too. And sometimes something happens which makes you, the interviewer, get very self-conscious during the interview. When this happens, it becomes very difficult to be present with your interviewee, hold the container, and ask the right questions! In this interview, I tell a story about one such interview where this happened to me during an interview with two managing partn...

If there was one internal shift I would have interviewers make it would be this: Respect the ask and give of what's being exchanged between you and the interviewer. This ability is huge to our ability to create a safe, comfortable, and intimate space where an interviewer feels open to giving you their true feelings, thoughts, and experiences. And in this episode, I go in depth what this looks like...

Two days ago I interviewed a couple who host children in need through a local social services agency I'm creating videos for. The wife was highly introverted, and there was at least once during the interview that it careened in a dangerously dull direction because of a misplaced question I had asked. These are both common struggles for interviewers! And so, in this episode I give at least one solu...

Preproduction makes production makes post-production. It's one of my favorite and most-said aphorisms from the video production process. If you do the legwork before the shoot you're much more likely to capture quality material than if you just show up day-of and try to wing it which will mean that the post-production process will be easier and turn out much better of a piece of media. Interviewin...

I've done hundreds of interviews over the course of my career for video production projects, documentary films, news stories, live on-air talk shows, and non-recorded pre-interviews. But what's more important to me is the response that I get from the people that I interview. They describe interviewing with me as "fun" and "relaxing" and "way less stressful than they thought that it was going to be...

"It's great that you care so much about interviewing, Will, but why should I care? I don't have to interview anyone for my job or in my personal life!" Well, odds are you probably do! Or at minimum you do things that could be greatly improved by learning and applying many of the tips, tricks, tools, and principles that make someone a better interviewer! In this episode, Will explores exactly who w...

How many of you want to create media that is both beautiful and powerful? Media which enthralls people with your technical prowess, moves people's hearts, and changes them for the better? Me too. But what about media which is ethical? We don't often think about the ethics behind the media that we create and how we create it. In this episode, I share my journey from my childhood dream of filmmaking...

There are many different types of interviews. News interviews. Podcast interviews. Or just having coffee with a friend - that's an interview. And what I've found over years of doing them is that many of the same principals apply to all the different types.  In this episode, I define what an interview is for the purposes of this podcast. Then I explain why I think that being mindful of in...