What makes a great interview? 3 simple pointers
💡 This blog post is adapted from my Playing Favorites newsletter.
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Last week, I got a text from a friend who works with speakers and authors on their businesses. He told me that his client was having a mild panic attack of his own. In just a few days, he would be on a (virtual) stage in front of thousands of people interviewing a big-name author, and he had no idea how to shape the interview.
Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. Covered in pit stains. (I sweat when I’m nervous, okay??? Just try not to picture it.)
I remember a few years prior to starting my own business, probably somewhere between 2013 and 2016, I had the chance to interview a very visible executive in Boston -- someone I’d admired for a long time from the startup ecosystem we both called our work-homes. I started to visualize the day: him, a known name in the area, and me, largely unknown, impressing the crowd with my casual banter, my breezy questions, my relaxed charm.
Who’s THAT guy? they’d wonder. How did I not know about HIM?
Wow, what a great interviewer! they’d conclude. What a young star!
With visions of compliments dancing in my head, I settled down for a long prep session. Hours turned into days. I agonized over this chat, looking deep into their backstory and history as a leader. (Wow, I can’t believe you found that! … he’d be sure to exclaim.) I researched interviewers, too. What clever questions could I ask? What crazy scenario could I concoct to yield the most original, most amazing interview possible?
“If you were on a train, and that train was out of control, and up ahead was a fork in the track, and on the left were your employees, and on the right were your investors, and you had a switch in your hand to decide which you hit…”
Hmm. Not quite it. Better keep researching!
I wanted to know I could hang with this person. I wanted to match their star power. I wanted to know -- and I wanted the audience to know -- I could be just as funny, smart, quippy, and witty. “I CAN DO IT,” I thought.
So I did it.
Not the “funny, smart, quippy, and witty” thing. I meant: I did the interview. It went well. And it went well precisely because I was so nervous I failed to glance down at the mountain of notes on my lap for fear of fumbling, forgot the nuggets of gold I’d dug up from their past, and couldn’t for the life of me remember my most clever questions. (“Let’s see, there was a train…and a fork… in the dining car? Ah shoot, there’s too much silence, JUST ASK THE THING YOU WANT TO ASK!”)
And it worked. It worked because my nerves forced me to throw out all the careful planning and process and cleverness and just … be. It worked because my need to ask the most obvious questions replaced my need to ask them the “best” questions. (Turns out, they’re the same!)
I’d wanted to be a star on-par with the real star. I got so nervous, I shrunk into the role of An Interviewer.
That’s exactly the role I should have aspired to play from the start.
I wasn’t the star, after all. They weren’t there to see me ham it up. They wanted to learn from this big-time executive, to hear his stories and consider his challenging but profound insights. HE was the star. I was there to ensure the audience got some starpower. My job was to bring out the best in him -- the person they actually wanted to be funny, smart, quippy, and witty.
I had invested literally days preparing for the interview when, in reality, it should have taken me a few hours. I learned four valuable things about conducting gripping interviews that day:
Prep is essential...
...but you can overdo it.
You’re not the star...
...but you need to help the guest shine.
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Back to my friend and his stressed out client. I shot him a quick email. I shared an abbreviated version of the story above, with those four lessons learned. And because I’ve seen both the bad (what I had almost done) and the really bad (what most busy people do: wing it), I gave him the shortest, easiest possible approach to a great interview I can imagine delivering:
Ask superlatives (best, worst, most, least, etc.)
Ask for examples
Ask for lessons learned
(Then just listen to what they say and pursue your curiosity)
“Do that,” I wrote, “and you’re already in the top 10% of interviews.”
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A few challenging questions, delivered warmly, plus mindful curiosity. That’s all you really need. Keep it simple, but the right type of simple.
Keeping it simple doesn’t mean winging it. It doesn’t mean zero prep. But it also doesn’t mean agonizing amounts of prep. Do enough, then ask good follow-ups. (What’s “enough”? Whatever feels right the first time. Then do more or less prep the next time, and the next time.)
To some degree, keeping it simple means trusting yourself. Trusting your curiosity.
Keeping it simple also means trusting your guest. Ask the open-ended stuff, the simple but obvious stuff. Ask for examples and stories. Ask for reflections. Ask for superlatives (to find their most memorable stories -- hey, that’s another superlative). And then trust that they can share something good.
Do I trust myself and my guest enough to keep this simple?
Ask yourself this question as you think about your work this week!
As I mentioned… this blog post is adapted from my Playing Favorites newsletter.
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