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So, this post kicks off another occasional series. I thought it might be fun to share some of the nerdy behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into the CraftyPod podcast. Don’t worry – it’s not about the glamorous hours I sit on my butt at the computer wearing headphones! It’s more about the ideas and tricks I use in making the show. Many thanks to Stacey for being the inspiration for this first post. Hope you enjoy!
I realized the other day that I’ve done close to 100 podcast interviews over the last seven years. (Holy Crap!) Some of them are good, and some are frankly pretty bad, but all in all this long practice of asking people questions has taught me a lot about interviewing.
Since there seems to be a lot of interviewing going on around the online craft community – in blog, podcast and video form – I thought I’d share some of the ideas I’ve evolved about what makes a good interview. You might not agree with my particular take on interviews, and that’s just fine. This isn’t me telling you how interviews “should” be done. This is me saying “Here are some ideas that might give you a fresh approach to interviewing.”
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Getting all philosophical about it
You can’t write a good sentence without a verb. You can’t have a good story without a villain. And similarly, you can’t have a good interview without some motion and some kind of storyline. An interview comes to life when it’s more than just a series of questions. A good interview is essentially the intersection of three important things:
Fancy Diagram FTW!
I think a lot of interviewers assume that their guest is the subject of the interview, but that’s not quite it. I believe that interviews that try to be purely about people can fall flat, because it’s so easy for them to resemble general, cocktail-party small talk. (“What’s your inspiration? What’s your favorite material? Why do you like your craft?”) I’m not saying that people aren’t interesting! I’m just saying that we’re missing our verbs here, and our villains. A good interview moves through a narrative arc, and that story emerges when you get more specific with your guest.
Or, to put it another way, a good interview starts with a hypothesis – a central question that you and your guest answer bit by bit during your conversation. The person who reads or listens to the interview actually takes a journey of discovery as the answer to this question builds.
As an interviewer, I think it’s your job to study your guest, and get clear about one very specific thing you’re wondering about them. And then, formulate a list of questions that helps you and your guest tell that story together.
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Turning questions into storytelling
Honestly, it’s not all that hard to create a storyline in an interview. Consider these options:
- You can ask a guest about his past, present, and future in relation to a particular idea. “What did you believe when you started? What was the most important thing you learned about that? What do you know now that you didn’t know then?
- You can ask a guest about the growth of her experience over time. “How did you get started? What took you to the next level? How does it feel to be experienced now?”
- You can follow a guest’s path through a particular experience: “What did you do first? What happened next? And what happened next?”
- You can follow a guest’s learning journey: “Why did you want to know more about that?” “Who taught you the most important thing?” “How did you use this knowledge?”
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See what I mean? A good interview is in motion – it moves through time, or idealogical space, or events. When you read, watch or listen to this intervew, you get to travel along – and that’s compelling.
When I formulate interview questions for a podcast guest, I just absorb a lot of stuff they’ve produced (blog posts, books, zines, podcasts, etc). I keep a text document open on my computer, and as questions occur to me, I write them down. It’s like brainstorming – I don’t let myself overthink it. After a while I have a good, long list of questions. Then I measure them all against the subject – or hypothesis – of the interview I’m planning. I discard any questions that don’t fit, and then I tweak and re-shuffle the remaining questions so they follow some kind of motion path.
That’s all there is to it. And this process gets easier and easier the more you practice it.
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Hey, what about those villains?
OK, so what about my earlier statement about stories needing villains? Well, in interviewing, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of asking interview guests only about happy things. But you know what? Our challenges make for compelling human stories. Struggle is interesting. Failure is instructive – especially when it’s paired with a later success. (And lo and behold, there’s another storyline option!) If you know your guest has a challenge story, see if they’re willing to talk about it – these stories are interview gold.
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“So, where do you get your inspiration?”
It’s also hard, I think, for any guest to be interesting when you ask them the same questions everyone else asks. When I interview a podcast guest, I can tell by her tone of voice which questions she’s heard before. Her voice goes rather flat when she’s reciting an answer she’s given many times. But when I ask a question that makes her think in new ways, you can hear the spark return to her voice, and her answer becomes more interesting.
…So, if you want to interview someone well, one great tactic is simply to Google their name and “interview”, read as many other interviews with this person as you can, and then compile a list of the questions they get asked most often. And then, you know… leave these out of your interview.
(Getting philosophical again) Why Interviews are Important
Of course, now that we all have access to blogging and social media, we can tell our own stories – why are interviews still relevant?
Well, especially in an introvert-heavy community like ours, the interview format is familiar and comforting. Maybe you don’t love tooting your own horn. But if someone asks you questions, all you have to do is answer – and that’s a much less-threatening way to share for many of us.
…Not only that, doing interviews helps you grow in important ways. I can attest to this wholeheartedly – conducting interviews has made me a better conversationalist. It’s helped me develop deeper curiosity about people. It’s taught me to look beyond the surface of things and ask for more detail.
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And let’s face it, a good interview creates a fertile space between us, where my ideas and yours combine to help both of us think bigger and deeper than we could on our own. And then when we share our conversation, maybe we can help others grow their thinking a bit, too.
To me, that’s pretty important work.
What other nerdy behind-the-scenes things would you like to know about the CraftyPod podcast? I’m all ears (as it were)!
Diane! Where was this two months ago when I was planning my first TV show?? LOL just kidding :) I found this post matches my experience exactly. I’m sure I picked up interviewing tips just through listening to you as well as all the other hundreds of interview podcasts that I am addicted to (Fresh Air, Bob Edwards, etc.)
My show follows the same theme every time, but each maker’s story is different so I research my guests’ bios and pick out a few storylines to follow and form my questions to get to my guests’ personal experience with my show’s topic: the intersection of commerce and creativity. That way my show is consistent, but each guest adds new insights and personal details to the topic.
I agree that challenges should be addressed though I try to stress to my guests ahead of time that I don’t want to go very negative, I just want to present the topics honestly.
And LOL from the very first show I kept saying “I will never ask where you get your inspiration”! Maker make, that’s a given, now let’s see what they do and how they do it professionally.
YES, this structure showed up really nicely in your interview with Ann Lee – we got a great sense of her movement through time as a creative business-owner, and also her passage through painting fabrics into making wearable art. It was a really engaging set of stories! (Link, for those who want to check it out: http://madeinlowell.blogspot.com/2012/04/makers-in-business-with-liz-smith.html)
I, too, have a firm “No-where-do-you-get-your-inspiration” policy. :-)
I don’t know anything about podcasts, but I worked as an AP reporter for 15 years and in small newspapers and radio stations before that so I have a little experience doing interviews under my belt. :)
If you’ll have a chance to edit before the interview goes live (Do you do that with podcasts? Or is it more like a live, on-air interview?), I have found that it’s important to be flexible and willing to go where the interview takes you if you want to go places that no one else has gone before. Sometimes, following a path from an off-hand comment the person makes leads to an amazing new place and ultimately becomes the kind of story that everyone wants to read/hear. Of course, other times it goes no where and it’s up to the interviewer to get things back on course. :)
Having a goal in mind going into an interview is crucial, but being open to serendipitous spontaneity if/when it occurs is also the difference, imo, between a run of the mill interview and a golden one.
Diane, I like that your podcasts generally sound like natural conversations that could occur between two makers discussing higher topics. You have a good radio voice, too. :)
That’s an excellent point, Aviva, and you’re right – being willing to follow those offhand comments and ask those follow-up questions really does make a difference when you’re conducting an interview in a “live space” medium like a podcast or video. Many of my interviews pick up valuable extra dimension this way.
When we’re conducting an email interview for a blog post, it’s somewhat harder to have this spontaneous stuff happen, but this is when your plan takes over, I think.
I do edit my podcasts pretty heavily – I work hard to whittle away everything that doesn’t serve the story the interview is telling. But I have a whole future post planned about this, so I won’t go into details now. :-) Thank you so much for your kind words about the show, and for chiming in with your expertise!
I just conducted my first podcast interview (yay!), and I purposely picked someone I’m friends with in real life… for exactly the reasons you mentioned above. I know her. I know what she’s passionate about… and I knew that she was hilarious enough and that we had a good enough rapport to make an interesting podcast. It worked beautifully, and it gave me the confidence to move onto others.
Here’s another thing I did (that I learned from my interview on Getting Loopy): I emailed a general idea of questions in advance, and asked if there was anything she’d like to add. That way, I know if anything is touchy (for example, are they planning to stop a certain line… but aren’t ready to go public, yet?) and it’s a good chance to get good info you may not find by ‘normal research’ (is there a new product line in the works that you can get a new insight on?). I think doing this also assures the interviewee that you’re in it to make an interesting conversation… not dig into unfavorable details. And it also gives the interviewee time to think… and some interesting insights might pop up!
Thanks so much for your food for thought… I’ll keep thinking about ways to improve my interviewing!
That’s such a good practice, Stacey – I always send a question list to my guest ahead, too. I think guests who don’t know you well feel so much more comfortable (and this shows in their voices) if they have some idea ahead of time what’s going to be discussed. I’ve been a guest on a couple shows where the host wouldn’t tell me anything about the subject of the interview ahead, and so I know from experience that it felt pretty uncomfortable.
Sometimes I also come up with extra questions during the interview, but I always offer these to my guest with the understanding that they can “veto” any question they don’t want to answer. It’s so easy to edit those out later. You’re right – guests should always feel like they have the option to steer clear of any subject they want to. It’s not like we’re trying to expose people here!
Congratulations on your first podcast interview!
Thank you, Diane, for once again rocking my socks. :)
I am in the planning and prepping phase of my jump into podcasting, and have been gathering tips and how-tos along the way. Your podcast is on the shortlist of those I admire. Along with what you’ve previously shared regarding so many other crafty business avenues (engagement marketing, online diets, blogging, etc.) your expertise in podcasting has been an invaluable resource for me. While I glean much of your style and professionalism from being a regular podcast listener, your post here is downright manna. Thank you! I am eager to read more and am sincerely grateful for your generosity.
Thank you so much, Marnie! When you launch your show, send me a link so I can add it to my crafty podcast blogroll!
Great idea for a series of posts! Interviews like you do, on a given subject or theme, are always so much more inspiring and interesting than the general kind. I am oh so tired of listening to a show where the same questions are asked EVERY single time! Or, with podcasters who don’t get what their role is supposed to be (at least I think they should talk as little as possible), they talk about them selves and give long stories about what THEY craft/do/think. So a great post could be the “no-nos of podcasting” according to you. In my list I would also add: asking like five questions at the same time! :-)
HAHAHAHAHA! …Except that I do that five-question thing all the time! It’s hard not to sometimes, when you want to go as deep as possible.
The no-no’s idea is intriguing – thanks for that! I’ll mull it over. I’ve definitely felt the same as you when a podcast host over-talks in an interview. I’m definitely guilty of using 6,000 words to ask a question when 25 will do, but when a guest is talking, I agree that’s the host’s moment to be mum. :-)
You do do a great interview so it’s nice to see what (& how much) goes into it.
I think one of your strengths as a podcaster is your show assembly. Your music selection suits your vocal quality and the segments are such a good length. I find that I don’t really drift when I listen to you and have time to digest & reflect on what’s being said.
How do you select the music and determine segement length? Do you have to edit responses sometimes when the interviewee is lengthy or rambly?
All great questions, chppie! And many thanks for your kind words.
I actually use Garageband to create the music for the CraftyPod 2.0 shows. I’m no musical genius, but thankfully that software has a lot of music loops you can string together. I think the music is a valuable element of pacing in the show, and I’ll likely write about pacing as part of this series. But suffice it to say for now that in general, I like to add a little music every 3-5 minutes. It’s an important “breather,” where you get to relax your listening muscles for a moment and reflect on whatever was just said. That digestion time you mentioned is really important.
…And yes, I do edit my guests’ responses for timing. This is always a tricky business – obviously, my guests are saying things they consider important. But there’s a delicate point where an answer gets too long, and then you lose people’s attention. I think I’d rather have a shorter answer people listen to than a too-long one that they end up tuning out. Usually, I figure out which answers are too long by (no lie) listening to them while I play Solitaire. (Solitaire is an underrated podcasting tool.) There’s something about keeping the surface level of my mind busy with the cards that lets me listen to the interview more like a listener.
This is such good stuff, Diane, and something I really needed to hear! I know I want to do interviews, but I struggled to discover how to find a direction. Thanks for sharing!
Yaaaay, I’m so thrilled to hear this was useful! Thank you, Rachel!
Great post. I find it interesting that in most interviews it’s as if the interviewer hasn’t researched the interviewee, just sent a batch of canned questions. So know I have a little more insight as to why your podcasts are always so fresh and fun!
Thank you, Tammy! :-)
Hello Diane,
I had this post open in a tab of my browser for weeks now … and finally took the time to read it. And WOW! How awesome! Thank you so much for sharing your take on things. I have been thinking of doing interviews with other creatives for my site – but was never certain how. The thing is to be honest, often I do not find interviews THAT interesting. I did not want to ask the same questions that everyone asks. But what else to do?
I did love your podcasts though. ALOT! But I could never quite pinpoint WHY I liked your podcasts so much and found them so interesting whereas other interviews I did not enjoy that much. After reading this post it made SO MUCH SENSE! Thanks for sharing this. Totally love your take on it and it gives me some food for thought. ;-)
Thank you!
xox,
Ursula
Thank you so much, Ursula – I really appreciate your kind words about the podcast! I hope those ideas are helpful as you start up your interview series. I’ve always loved doing interviews – amazing the surprises that pop out of a good conversation!