What makes a great interview? Asking engaging questions? Writing everything down? Or maybe it’s having an engaging conversation with the interviewee. In the movie Shattered Glass we were exposed to a plethora of ways to conduct a successful interview. All these methods mentioned above are just the tip of the iceberg of conducting a successful interview. But what’s under it?
- In order to know that you have just had a successful interview, you should have notes about the interviewees’ characteristics post interview. During the interview, the interviewer should be writing everything down; every quote, word, detail. It is crucial for the interviewer to have enough information so that when he shares his notes to someone else, that person should be able to picture the interview clearly in their heads.
- There is a huge malicious act that goes against all writers and interviewers; assuming. As an interviewer, a valued rule is that they can never assume. It is the mother of jumping to conclusions and never ends well. The act of deducing things without any evidence will only lead you to a life of regret. The more you assume based on what the interviewee has said will result in lowering your credibility.
- Never lie! It is as simple as that, lying is the biggest no-no in the new-media world. Stating false information and stating it as facts just to make your interview juicier is morally wrong. Lying will only drive your reporting skills 6 feet under. If by some chance you were caught and exposed, you career in the new media department is over. No Credibility, no morals, no values!
- A fundamental skill to have when working in the new media world is the ability to fact check. There are a plethora of ways to fact check, from checking online to using personal relation networks to reaffirm the believed facts. In our modern day society there are plenty of ways to fabricate information and publish it with the sole reason to mislead others. To prevent this for happening to yourself, fact check!
- What do you do post interview? Shake Hands? Greet them off? These are fundamental ways of saying good-bye, but what you really should be doing is asking for contact information. Go through your notes and ask your interviewee if you can get some contact information to verify what they have stated. For every person the interviewee has recommended, ask for at least three ways of communication for you to reach out to them. The moral of the story is; get as much contact information as possible!
Interviewing is a skill that will require a long time to master, even for professionals. But there is one simple solution to get good at interviewing, practice. There aren’t any shortcuts in life but there are methods out there that can help you with your growth. Following these five interviewing techniques that we have highlighted from the movie “Shattered Glass” will hopefully guide you to conduct an excellent interview.
Shower Thoughts 