Recently, I was interviewed on a TV show called “We Mean Business!” It was a half hour show, and I enjoyed the interview a great deal. It was a successful show, and that was because the interviewer, Steve Dorfman, did several things that made the interview successful. There’s an art to conducting a great interview, and let’s look at the things you must do to make that happen:
Steve Dorfman in action
- Do Your Homework. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been interviewed by people who have absolutely no idea who I am or the work I’ve done. My red flag is an easy one: You don’t pull the name “Jolles” out of a bag and pronounce it correctly without doing your homework. I know we’re in for a long interview when I hear: “Please welcome Mr. Rob, uh, Joe-Lees to our show!” How often do you miss an opportunity to find out more about a person you are about to speak with? What kind of message do you send out when you do?
- Prepare Your Questions. At the end of this BLArticle®, you’ll see a link to the interview I mentioned earlier. I hope you watch it and enjoy it, but before you do, notice what’s below the interview. You’ll see a list of the questions the interviewer prepared. Most of the questions are open, and all are thought out carefully. It’s clear that Steve Dorfman takes his interviews seriously. How often do you miss an opportunity to really think out the questions you are going to ask another person before you speak with them? What impact does this have on the conversation when you do?
- Let The Person You Are Interviewing Speak. This has always been a pet peeve of mine. I would venture to guess that 90% of the time I’m interviewed, I spend more time listening to the interviewer answer his or her own questions, then I do actually answering the questions that are posed. Why have a person on a show if you don’t want to hear his or her answers to your questions? How often do you find yourself asking a person questions, but still end up making the conversation more about you? What impression do you think this creates in that other person’s mind about you?
Take it from a person who has been on both sides of the interviewing desk. When you’ve been a part of a good interview, everyone knows it… and when you’ve been a part of a bad interview, everyone knows it. Watch the interview linked below, and watch how remembering these three simple rules can create an effective interview. The words may be coming out of my mouth, but Steve Dorfman is the one who is running the show.
Interview Link:
You made it easy, Rob. You combine wisdom, humor and authenticity in a way that is sure to inspire anyone. I appreciate you for sharing such great value with our viewers.
I love how you dissected the interview and pulled out these 3 great lessons for effective selling and relationship building.
WOW, ROB!
WHAT A GREAT SUBJECT – THAT ‘HITS HOME’ – FOR THIS HUMBLE T.V. GUY!!!
YOU AND I HAVE DONE – AT LEAST 3 T.V. ‘INTERVIEWS’ – ON MY LOCAL PROGRAM “COMMUNICATING TODAY’ – ON CH 10 COX CABLE – OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS. AS I READ THIS BLarticle, I WAS ‘SQIRMING IN MY SEAT – HOPING THAT I PASSED ‘MUSTER’ ON THOSE INTERVIEWS – AFTER COMPLETING OVER 600 SHOWS, OVER A 20-YEAR PERIOD!
YOU ARE SUCH A KNOWLEDGEABLE, PROFESSIONAL PERFORMER – THAT AN INTERVIEW HOST – WANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT HE/SHE IS UP TO THE ‘CHALLENGE’ TO PRESENT YOU IN THE KIND OF ‘LIGHT’ – THAT YOU’RE TRULY ENTITLED TO. THAT’S NOT ALWAYS AN EASY ASSIGNMENT.
BUT – YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT – WHEN YOU SAY ‘PREPARATION’ (ALONG WITH SOME TALENT) – IS THE ‘KEY’ TO TRYING TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS – IN WHATEVER YOU SEEK TO ACCOMPLISH IN LIFE – INCLUDING DOING T.V. INTERVIEWS.
EVIDENTLY STEVE DORFMAN ACCOMPLISHED THAT WITH YOU – AS I ALWAYS TRIED TO DO – WITH OUR THREE MEMORABLE “TALK SHOW” INTERVIEWS TOGETHER!
“KEEP ON COMMUNICATING FOR SUCCESS!” (OUR SHOW’S MOTTO)
J.M.
“C.T.”
Once again, you are on target! Set up and preparation are the key to success.
As so often is the case, I find myself nodding in silent agreement, particularly the point about interviewers who do all the talking.
The matter is made even worse when, after their lengthy monologue, they ask a question that requires a more than one word yes|no answer, but only give you time for the yes|no grunt before taking back control of the conversation.
There’s another aspect of this for peoople who are interviewers and seeking the goodwill of interviewees to participate. Especially for tv appearances, it takes time to perhaps change into appropriate clothing, drive to wherever the studio is, wait one’s turn to be interviewed, do the interview, and then drive back to the office/home. Add to that all the preparation time to ensure one is on top of the subject and pre-loaded with pithy soundbites, and at least for me, a tv interview represents a half day investment of my time.
How often do I end up with the return on the half day of time being maybe ten seconds of heavily edited sound-bite in a two minute piece? It just isn’t worth it.
So, my point – and here it finally comes – is that it behooves the interviewer to ‘give value’ in return to his interviewees, or else s/he will run out of willing participants.
Great article Rob. As a headhunter, interviewing is like eating. I do it every day. But I also prepare folks to interview with clients. Even on the other perspective, you hit the nail on the head. Doing your homework and preparation are critical. While we may know who we are interviewing with, we most likely do not know their style. Anything can happen when the meeting begins…great stuff Rob.