The art of the interview: why good conversations are key to great content
Are well-planned interviews an integral part of your content creation process? If not, they should be. Speak Media’s junior content producer Sarah McGrath explores and shares tips for prompting genuine answers – and surface “content gold”.
In the world of corporate comms, scheduling and carrying out an interview can feel like a hassle. Outlook calendars are packed, and time is limited, so why go to the trouble of organising a call or meet up? And when you’re working to a fast turnaround, isn’t it quicker to email over a few questions – or work from a couple of ready-drafted quotes?
If you’re not investing enough time in interviews, your brand is missing out on a wealth of game-changing content. You already know that the right stakeholder can provide perspective and expertise around a particular initiative or topic – but a good conversation will help you make these feel human and accessible.
It’s the chance to bring the stories that matter to your brand to life for your target audience – whether it's making difficult concepts easier to understand, getting to know the real people behind company initiatives, or simply finding some interesting anecdotes.
Every interviewer worth their salt knows that planning ahead is key. Here are four ways you can use your time with a stakeholder effectively to source genuinely compelling content.
1. Keep it clear
For some interviewees, answering questions about themselves may be a day-to-day part of their job. But for others, it could be an entirely new (and slightly daunting) affair.
This means it’s crucial to make sure they understand your brand’s content creation process – and the role they are going to play in it.
Before you start, remind whoever you’re interviewing about the purpose of the meeting. Highlight the value that their perspective will bring to your audience, as well as anything they should know about sign off and publication. It helps ensure that everyone is on the same page (and eases any misconceptions that writers are about to grill them, Jeremy Paxman style).
You’ll avoid interviewees being caught off guard at any point, ensuring that their interview is a positive experience. This will support your stakeholder relationships and, ultimately, make sure feel they comfortable enough to answer your questions properly.
2. Make a connection
It’s easy to be so focused on gathering the information you need that you dive straight into questions as soon as an interview begins. This can be off-putting – you can’t expect someone to open up to a complete stranger. Start off the conversation by making participants feel at ease. How has their day been? Where are they are based? Not only are you helping ease any potential nerves – encouraging stronger and more genuine answers – but you’ll also be amazed at the colour the details you unearth can give a piece of content. You may discover a nugget of information that can tie the whole story together – a CEO’s passion for gardening, or how a coder’s painting hobby helps her think of her work as ‘art’. Taking the time to build a rapport at the beginning of a meeting can pay off considerably by the end.
Look at Radio 1’s film critic Ali Plumb – an expert at starting an interview off on the right foot. Sidestepping the endless cycle of traditional press junket fodder, Plumb leads his conversation with actor Jennifer Lawrence with questions on her X-Men blooper reel – an unexpected introduction instantly surprises and charms Lawrence, bringing about genuine engagement and offering the audience a new angle on her acting career. You might not be talking to an A-Lister, but setting the stage for an authentic conversation is crucial if you want to encourage enthusiasm from even the most tentative of interviewees.
3. Be prepared for the unexpected
The Speak team have overseen interviews everywhere from offices to football pitches to hospital corridors – we’ve seen it all.
Even if you’ve planned for every possible contingency, you need to be prepared to adapt. I once conducted an interview call while the participant was on a train, asking my questions as their phone signal cut out at random interviews. In this case quickly prioritising the most important points made sure the finished content would meet our client’s goals.
A skilled writer can even use unpredictable circumstances to their advantage. The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone is typically known for his revealing interviews that go off without a hitch – but when he interviewed actor Dame Judi Dench, A40 traffic delays meant he had to conduct the interview over the phone en route. What Hattenstone describes as “phone-on-the-road-interview malarkey” ends up making the piece stronger – yielding some bold and sometimes clipped answers from Dench on everything from her arrest record to what she dislikes about herself. Hattenstone paints a complex picture of his subject, with a creativity and humour that makes the feature all the more distinctive. Embracing (rather than panicking at) curveballs can generate striking moments of storytelling.
4. The follow-up
In an email interview, you might get answers that are to-the-point, but they are likely to lack the heart and character that will make a story worth reading.
In-person conversations offer the chance for additional context, real clarity and fascinating anecdotes. If your ears prick up at something your interviewee says that sparks your interest, follow up on it. These moments can transform mediocre interviews into content gold.
Ex-Desert Island Discs interviewer Kirsty Young is master of the follow-up question. Her illuminating conversations often filled with unexpected and candid insights from public figures like Yoko Ono, Tom Hanks and Steve McQueen.
Singer George Michael even asked Young to interview him in 2016, using her prompts to help generate a more authentic voiceover for a TV documentary on his life. The informal but frank interview – the last before his death – explored the successes of the musician’s career but also grappled with his experiences as a gay man during the AIDS epidemic.
"I always imagine if you were sitting at a table with a person, what would they be telling you?” Young told The Guardian in 2009, discussing her approach to interviewing. “It is about making it, as much as you can, an intimate environment with you, the guest and the listener. That's probably always my aim.”
This article was originally published on 30 September 2022.
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Contact Gabrielle from our client services team: gabriellebridle@speakmedia.co.uk