A good personal history interview is like a symphony – complex, engaging, and harmonious. Over the past three years I’ve written extensively about the art of the interview and assembled these articles here in one convenient list. Enjoy!…Read more.
Posted in How to, Interviewing, Life stories, Personal historian, Tips
Tagged How to, interview, Interviewing skills, Life stories, Personal historian, Question, Tips
If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.
~ W. Edwards Deming, American author and lecturer.
A good personal history interview is like a symphony – complex, engaging, and harmonious. Over the past three years I’ve written extensively about the art of the interview and assembled these articles here in one convenient list. Enjoy!
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Photo by Erica La Spada
Posted in How to, Interviewing, Life stories, Tips
Tagged Ask an Expert, How to, interview, Interviewing skills, Life stories, Question, Tips, W. Edwards Deming
In a previous post, Avoid These Three Interviewing Pitfalls, I wrote about the need to go for depth when interviewing your subjects. What was missing from that article were examples of interview dialogue that could help you see the difference between poor interviews and good ones. I’ve included two examples here. All the dialogue is made up. One example looks at the problem of jumping off the topic before exploring the subject’s remarks fully. The second example highlights the problem of going into detail that does nothing to advance the story being told. It’s the stories that are interesting. That’s what we want to capture.
Poor
Interviewer: What was it like as a child growing up in a village?
Subject: Oh, we had some good times. Everyone knew everyone else.
Interviewer: That’s wonderful. Tell me about the house you grew up in.
Better
Interviewer: What was it like as a child growing up in a village?
Subject: Oh, we had some good times. Everyone knew everyone else.
Interviewer: What were some of the good times you remember?
Subject: Well I remember in the fall we’d have the fall fair. People would come from all over. It had quite a reputation.
Interviewer: It sounds great. What were some of the things you enjoyed most about the fair? What is one of your most memorable stories about the fair?
……and so on
Poor
Interviewer: What was special about your childhood home?
Subject: Oh it was located next to the prettiest little creek. In the summer we’d go swimming and in the winter skating.
Interviewer: What was the name of the creek?
Subject: I think it was called “Crystal Creek”. Not sure though.
Interviewer: Do you think it was named after the clear water?
Subject: Maybe, although it wasn’t too clear by the time it got to our place.
Interviewer: Where did the creek originate?
Subject: Not sure. I think it came out of Lake Clare.
Interviewer: How far was Lake Clare from you?
Subject: Maybe a mile or two.
Better
Interviewer: What was special about your childhood home?
Subject: Oh it was located next to the prettiest little creek. In the summer we’d go swimming and in the winter skating.
Interviewer: It does sound lovely. What’s one of your most memorable stories about the creek?
Subject: Well I almost drowned!
Interviewer: Really! Tell me more.
Subject: It was in the early winter and the ice wasn’t too thick. My parents had warned me to stay off the ice. But you know kids.
Interviewer: How old were you?
Subject: I think about six.
Interviewer: So what happened?
Subject: It was a bright sunny day and cold. I went down to the creek with my dog. The ice looked pretty thick so I decided to cross to the other side. I got about half way out and bang! I went through the ice! I tried hanging on the edge but I kept slipping away. I was really panicky and started shouting. What really saved me though was that my dog, Spotty, went rushing back to the house. He kept barking and my mom knew something was wrong. She followed him down to the creek. Without wasting any time she found a long branch on the ground and held it out to me to grab on to. She was a strong woman. She gave a great heave and I came sliding out and made my way back to the bank. She was pretty upset.
Interviewer: I bet! Then what happened?
…and so on
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Over the years I’ve trained novices in the art of the interview. I’ve noticed that inexperienced interviewers are frequently missing what I’d call their Third Ear. I’m not talking about steroid induced mutant ears. This is about listening at a deeper level than we are usually accustomed. At a basic level we hear the words being spoken to us. With our Third Ear we pick up what isn’t being said. We notice the missing content and we intuitively sense that there is something more going on than appears on the surface. The most effective interviewers are those who’ve mastered the use of their Third Ear.
Let’s look at a sample of fictional interview dialogue to illustrate my point. Sample A shows an interviewer without the Third Ear.
Sample A:
Interviewer: When was a time you felt most alive?
Subject: Times when I was most engaged in the moment.
Interviewer: I see. Tell me more.
Subject: Well, when the world was my oyster.
Interviewer: Right. Your oyster. My next question is about regrets.
Now let’s look at the same interview but with an interviewer using the Third Ear.
Sample B
Interviewer: When was a time you felt most alive?
Subject: Times when I was most engaged in the moment.
Interviewer: When would have been a time when you felt engaged in the moment?
Subject: Well, when the world was my oyster.
Interviewer: Give me an example of when the world was your oyster.
Subject: Well the time I received a prominent award for my book. I was the toast of the town. Everyone wanted to interview me. It was great!
Interviewer: That does sound fantastic. I may be wrong but I sense that it wasn’t all wonderful.
Subject: Yeah, you’re right. It eventually led to some real strains on my marriage.
I hope the distinction between the two samples is clear. In Sample A, the interviewer doesn’t go for detail and misses out on an important aspect of the story. On the other hand, in Sample B the interviewer digs deeper for concrete examples and relies on her intuition to uncover a richer story.
Developing your Third Ear takes time and practice. It require that you be fully present and focused on what your interview subject is saying. And it means that you have to cut through vague, general statements and get to specific details. This, combined with trusting your intuition, will begin to pay off in better interviews.
Photo by Vanessa David
Posted in How to, Interviewing, Personal historian, Tips
Tagged How to, Interviewing skills, Third Ear, Tips
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