interview

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interview

Top Investigative Reporter Shows You How To Get People To Open Up. – With John Sawatsky

Posted on Jun 9, 2009 - 10:00 AM PST

I bet you can see how this program will help you if you’re doing interviews on your site the way I do on Mixergy. But can you also imagine how it would help in business?

I’ve found that if I ask the right questions at a private lunch, what I learn in an hour is more valuable than all the business classes I took at NYU.

So I invited investigative reporter John Sawatsky on Mixergy to teach us how to ask questions that give people room to open up.

The FULL program


(Can’t see video? Go to Mixergy.com)
Prefer audio? Great! “Right click” here for the MP3 format.

Videos excerpts

About this program

John Sawatsky

John Sawatsky is an expert on interviewing skills and Sr. Director, Talent Development at ESPN. The American Journalism Review called him, “Canada’s premier investigative reporter and a foremost expert on interviewing.”

My notes on interviewing

This should give you a sense of what you can learn if you listen to the full program.

Why you shouldn’t copy the famous interviewers

John says some of the star interviewers are great at projecting their personalities, but they’re not good models of how to take in information.

He says, “the problem with input and output is that they’re not only different, they are contradictory.  They actually follow contradictory goals. What makes you good in one actually makes you bad in the other.

“Mike Wallace is someone that I’ve used for years as an example of bad form. On the output side the guy is great. He could read the New York phone book on the air and make it sound interesting. He could pick up a sentence and give it life.

“But when it comes to getting information, he uses those same skills.” As a result, Wallace’s personality overpowers his subject’s story.

How to get people past their “PR answers”

John says, one way is to avoid “yes or no” questions.

He told me, “If you ask a closed question, all you’re asking for is a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Everybody expects more than a yes or no and most people give more than a yes or no.  So once they confirm or deny, that question is paused — it isn’t finished, it isn’t over. Then after that, people can say whatever they want.

“If you’re interviewing somebody who hasn’t left his track and almost answers before you ask the question, a closed question is the perfect opportunity to slip in their spin.

“For example, if you ask ‘Is this a painful thing for you?’

“The answer might be, ‘Not at all.’

“Of course you’re expecting more than that.  So, after they say ‘not at all,’ they can say whatever they want.”

How the interview should feel

“One of the problems with interviewing is that there’s too much complexity,” John said. “The topics are complex and you are doing several things at once, and that makes it more difficult. The solution really is to simplify and just make it feel natural, make it two people talking to each other. Now the process will be actually little more than that. But how it comes across will be as a conversation.”

Why should write down your questions and prepare

“When I was starting out as a junior reporter,” John said, “I used to think it wasn’t macho to write out the questions I wanted to ask in advance.

“Then, as I got older I realized you just don’t do an interview without planning it in advance.  Once you know how to plan it out, you realize how much more you get out of it. And Once you realize what’s the cost of not doing it, then there’s just no question.  You plan out your interview.”

How to cut someone off who’s going off on a tangent

John said, “cutting off is one of the most difficult things to do, because in effect you’re saying ‘I’m not interested. Please shut up.” and that’s just not a good message to give.

“If you do it on air, half the time the audience will sympathize with your guest, even though the guest can be on the side of the devil, because you violated the process.  So, it’s a difficult thing to do, but sometimes it’s very necessary, and the way to do it is to move them forward by showing it’s not that you’re not interested in what they’re saying at the moment, but you’re so interested in the next part and you just can’t wait to get there.  Rather than giving him the message of saying you’re not interested, you’re giving the message that’s exactly the opposite.”

The “7 Deadly Sins” of interviewing

#1 Asking a non-question

To explain this, John gave an example of an interviewer who talked to Paul Newman about he death of his son, and said, “that must be a terrible thing.” Newman’s response was, “It’s still there with me,” a quick statement that doesn’t give us depth into how he felt.

#2 Asking a double-barreled question

If you ask two questions at once, one of two things will happen. Either you give the other person the choice of which question to answer and you actually lose control of the interview, or they will combine the questions and you will get a unsatisfactory answer.

#3 Overloading your question

If you make the subject of your question too big or you put in too many subjects, your question can’t be answered.

#4 Putting remarks into your question

At best, putting remarks into your questions could distort the answer you get. At worst, it could get a cheap rise out of the other person.

#5 Including trigger words in your question

These are words that are so powerful to an interviewee that they take attention away from the rest of the question and ruin the answer.

#6 Including hyperbole in your question

If you exaggerate for effect, the answerer will defend against the exaggeration instead of giving you a meaningful answer.

#7 Asking a close-ended question

“Yes or no” questions only test your hypothesis, but they don’t lead to genuine discovery.

Full program includes

- You’ll see common interviewing mistakes that you’re making right now when you talk to people and how you can avoid them.

- Ever get a “PR answer” from someone and not know how to get past it so you can learn the truth? This program will show you a couple of techniques for getting past the spin.

- Do all these tips feel overwhelming? In the program, John will give you a mindset that will help simplify the process.

- If I tell you all the good that’s in this program, I need to also be honest admit the bad. The sound on this interview is off at times.

Suggested comments

- Is this a helpful subject for you?

- What do you think I should have asked?

- How was the audio quality?

- Do you prefer video interviews over audio interviews like this one?

- What do you plan to use from this interview?

View Comments to “Top Investigative Reporter Shows You How To Get People To Open Up. – With John Sawatsky”

  1. RedBoy Says:

    I was really interested in the theme, however I found it very difficult to hear John Sawatsy. I'd be interested in reading more notes on the points noted in the “Full Program” section.

  2. Mark Says:

    I agree with RedBoy. It's too hard to hear John. I could only persevere for 10 minutes. Good choice of topic though Andrew. Keep it up.

  3. dennisgorelik Says:

    1) I agree with RedBoy — it's very hard to hear John Sawatsky.
    To see more detailed transcript would be nice.
    And for future interviews it would be nice to have better sound quality.

    2) Regarding “top interviewers” mistakes — these are not mistakes, because these “interviews” are more presentation to public than interview for the sake of research.

  4. IdeasForDownload Says:

    Great subject matter, Andrew. Interviewing is a skill that most people don't realize is difficult and takes a great deal of practice. A great interviewer makes it look easy and you don't even notice how great they are. But when they are bad, everyone notices.

    Like most things, doing it well means making it look effortless to anyone unfamiliar with the art.

  5. AndrewWarner Says:

    You're right. I jut bought a new mic to fix my audio, but I'm not sure what
    to do when the interviewee's audio is off. I think you're right that the
    solution is probably to make the notes even more detailed.

  6. AndrewWarner Says:

    Thank Tim.

    You always do an incredible job with your interviews.

    By the way, you're my inspiration for doing interviews. You got me excited
    about this idea years ago when you started doing it. I wish I hadn't waited
    so long to start.

  7. AndrewWarner Says:

    I agree with him too. Thanks for telling me.

  8. Max Nucci Says:

    I have listened to half the interview so far, but I agree with everyone above.

    You could FedEx them a voice recorder as an audio backup in case you get bad audio from their side. It may also work with a very good cell phone.

    Seemingly small details like these (audio) can really put a dent on your mission. What you are doing here is fuel for people like me who are already hooked to mixergy, but imagine if this were the first interview someone is listening to on mixergy… not a great first impression.
    ———————————–

    Slightly off topic: Have you seen Frost/Nixon the movie? I think you'll enjoy it since a good deal of the movie is about preparing and penetrating a tough interviewee.

  9. Michelle Vandepas Says:

    I've been guilty of all of the above…:( Great interview. now to remember what not to do, and what to do while I'm doing the interviewing. Thanks Andrew.

  10. Michelle Vandepas Says:

    I've been guilty of all of the above…:( Great interview. now to remember what not to do, and what to do while I'm doing the interviewing. Thanks Andrew.

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