I’m working on some of the final chapters of my book about interviewing and am interested in the ways that people have developed their own skills as an interviewer. I’ll list a few but this list can only get better with your input.

• Practice, man, practice. It’s how you get to Carnegie Hall and it’s how you get better at interviewing.
• Create your own practice occasions: that chatty seat mate on an airplane, the extroverted cashier – ask them a question and then ask them a follow up questions!
• Reflect, just like a football coach who reviews the game films; watch your videos, read your transcripts, and look at what worked well and what you might have improved
• Be interviewed whether it’s for a survey or a usability study or a poll, experience the interview from the other side of the lens
• Critique the interviews of others (without resorting to your just-got-your-drivers’-license-know-it-all we all were at 16)
• Observe others at work including great interviewers and poor interviewers – this can be in your work context, or in the media (Marc Maron, Charlie Rose, Terry Gross, and others) 
• Collect war stories (more on this coming very soon)
• Try improv 

That’s my starter list, but what have you done to get better as an interviewer?

Tags: critique, improv, improvement, interviewing, reflection

28 Responses to “Tips to Improve Your Interviewing Skills (and a request for more!)”

Tending bar was good foundational work for the career I didn’t even know I’d have, back in the day. I was provided with a veritable parade of regulars and irregulars upon which to practice active curiosity. Not that I knew that’s what I was doing! I regularly experienced instant rewards for asking probing questions in the forms of more workplace fun and bigger tips.

Currently, I find dating to be a surprising forum for showcasing and honing those interviewing skills.

Comment by Julie Norvaisas 01.10.12 @ 3:53 pm





Those are good examples. Better interviewing tip #257 – go out on a blind date!

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:28 pm





I’d like to second the one about practicing being on the other side of the table- it breeds empathy. In college I signed up for market research databases and other grad students’ studies so I was able to experience being a participant. Before I ever set foot in front of a research participant, I had amassed a long list of things to strive for and things to avoid.

Comment by Tamara Christensen 01.10.12 @ 3:53 pm





Great ideas – you’re being very deliberate about it, seeking out those experiences.

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:29 pm





Hi, Steve,
I love interviewing, and I’m mainly self-taught. I started asking questions fairly early on in my life. We didn’t have a course on it in soc grad school, although we did have book chapters or sections. I really like your approach. I

What I would add may seem somewhat obvious–

–research your subject matter and if possible, your subject, before starting. I find if I know even a little about the person, I can more easily relate the questions to that person, even with the style I use to ask them. Of course, whether or not you can vary the question’s content, and by how much depends upon which kind of interviewing you are doing, huh? Assuming you have a degree of flexibility, another thing I have learned is:

–follow your leads! Someone may start on a topic that you hadn’t considered, so by all means, explore that, through further questions! I’ve let a few seemingly off-the-path comments go, and regretted that later.

Anyway, these are just two ideas off the top.
Thanks for asking! Wait, is this an interview? More like an open-ended questionnaire, huh.

cheers,
andee

Comment by andee baker 01.10.12 @ 3:54 pm





Andee, you have some good suggestions for running a good interview…my question is really about how to become better at interviewing, and as someone who is self-taught I’d love to get your thoughts! How did you teach yourself? What would you suggest to someone else?

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:22 pm





I thought I stuck more to your topic (–thanks for specifying, Steve–) about becoming better with my second point on following leads…

On self-teaching–
Essentially I have practiced interviewing all of my life, from wanting to learn about where people came from, how they lived, their likes and dislikes, and such. I moved quite a bit as a kid, and maybe that helped. Plus I grew up with a lot of books my dad collected, including Freud’s interpretation of dreams. I’d guess Freud did a certain amount of interviewing, however flawed!

In everyday life interviewing comes naturally to me, trying to see where I can place the person, sociologically, or personally, hearing new experiences, gaining a bit of wisdom here and there. I have been told, not in a positive way that I seem to be doing a study of a person, when I’m just interacting naturally, more or less interviewing. On the good side, I’ve also been told that my interviews seem more like conversations between friends than interviews for projects.

I will try to think more on what I’ve learned that’s not already covered by yourself and others. Sounds like a good book you are writing, best of luck!

Comment by andee baker 01.12.12 @ 9:43 am





I’d also add meditate or find some other way to practice presence. It requires a lot of mental energy to focus singularly on the person(s) you are interviewing and their world (how they see it, describe it, and manifest it in their life around you). I have a maniacal monkey mind that wants to bounce all over the place when I meet new people, so learning to channel that and be in the moment with someone takes effort.

Comment by Tamara Christensen 01.10.12 @ 4:01 pm





I think that goes really well with the improv example, it extends it quite nicely. I can see a number of different techniques along the same objective. I hear you on the monkey mind.

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:29 pm





I would say having mock sessions over Skype and then going over it. Also, keeping a library of lessons of such sessions so that I can go back and refer the list.

Comment by Maish Nichani 01.10.12 @ 5:09 pm





Brilliant. Stage and document actual practice sessions. Well put.

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:30 pm





Steve,

Here are a few tips for you. I hope you find these helpful!

-Engage in lengthy conversations to build your “engagement stamina”. Pay attention, mentally note details & reflect your understanding.
-Learn from the best! Talk to other interviewers about their personal experience.
-Leverage books, research and best practices to help refine your interview skills.
-Join forums and newsgroups for general discussion and guidance from industry experts.
-If you are new to interviewing and it makes you uncomfortable, just “pretend” you are a master interviewer and play the part! Trust in yourself, and you’ll grow confidence over time.
-Your participant is ready to talk to you, and you are here to learn. So relax, open your mind and enjoy the interview process!

Comment by Stephanie Sansoucie 01.10.12 @ 7:49 pm





Stephanie – all great. The phrase “engagement stamina” is wonderful, it speaks to the demand (especially for us introverts) that this can place on us. And elsewhere in the book I’m pretty sure I talk about “act as if” as a general technique, so glad to see it crop up here too!

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:31 pm





Steve – I’m glad to hear that the phrase resonated with you well, as it seemed fitting for the experience. This thread contains some great ideas all the way around! Just a head’s up, I am also game for kicking in on review if you need another pair of eyes. I believe you have my contact info if you are interested. Best of luck!

Comment by Stephanie Sansoucie 01.11.12 @ 5:16 pm





Good list. I’ll add this: don’t pressure yourself to lead a perfect interview with flawless technique. Apply your skills and cover your topics — yes — but relax and let it be a human encounter with all its requisite imperfections. Respondents will return the favor.

Comment by Tom Williams 01.10.12 @ 10:54 pm





Thanks, Tom. You’re describing how to run a successful interview, but my question is slightly different: how do you make yourself into a better interviewer? What have you seen work for people?

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.10.12 @ 11:03 pm





that is already a good list! Besides a lot of practice it is helpful having a third person observing you while you interviewing to give you feedback afterwards. Also reading books about interpersonal communication gives some understanding how communication works and how you can influence the interview with the way you phrase your questions.

Comment by Katharina 01.11.12 @ 8:42 am





Katharina – great points. I like the idea of making the coach an explicit role. This recent New Yorker article about coaching takes your point and builds a whole in-depth article about it – http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawande .

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:33 pm





Practice listening
Have other moderators/interviews critique your interviews.
Ask your clients
Sounds cliche but identify your personal style figure out what is effective or ineffective about it.
Get feedback from respondents

Comment by Matthew Towers 01.11.12 @ 11:46 am





Feedback from respondents! Awesome. Yes, we all have those meta conversations at the end of interviews about this process, but to look at those as feedback opportunities is just wonderful.

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:33 pm





While giving a lecture at Stanford, Dev Patnaik once claimed that one could conduct an interview by ONLY repeating things the respondent said, and then waiting. Here’s an example (I made up):

Respondent: “And then in this room, we keep the dogs in here where their toys are”
Interviewer: “Their toys?” ..wait..
Respondent: “Yeah we have some chew toys in here that the dogs like, and this funny one we found at Target”
Interviewer: “Funny?” ..wait..
Respondent: “Yeah, because it’s nicely made with nice materials, you wouldn’t think it’s a dog toy”
Interviewer: “You wouldn’t think it’s a dog toy?” ..wait..

I have found this to be a good exercise to practice in conversation. It helps me switch into a passive, observing role, while also helping me identify and pick up leads. The constraint also forces me to create silences in the conversation. If I wait long enough in silence, my respondent will keep talking to avoid awkwardness, and sometimes say something I didn’t expect.

Comment by Margaret Cumming 01.11.12 @ 12:15 pm





Thanks. I am definitely enthusiastic about using everyday conversation as practice, but I hadn’t been able to get as tactical or specific as you do in this example. So helpful!

Comment by Steve Portigal 01.11.12 @ 12:35 pm





Yikes that conversation wouldn’t last two minutes if I was being interviewed. How to put this delicately: that is a bad idea. Parroting the interviewee is amatuerish and can be offensive to respondents who can easily catch on what you are doing. Rephrasing responses and mirroring respondents is a useful part of interviewing but there is more to it than that.

Comment by Matthew Towers 01.11.12 @ 12:50 pm





I should clarify. “verbal mirroring” is a useful tool, but not alone “by ONLY repeating things the respondent said”. It can be very counterproductive and destroy rapport. Probes like tell me more, or even an inquisitive look can be as or more effective without the downside of mimicry.

Comment by Matt 01.12.12 @ 11:21 am





I love that, Margaret, what I might call verbal mirroring, repeating a phrase. I’ve used that a lot in unstructured interviews and in everyday conversation at times. Sometimes I add “you say you”…keep the dogs where their toys are? Or in an interview, “could you say more about”…In line with following up leads that I mentioned, these are great practical examples of that.

Comment by andee baker 01.12.12 @ 9:48 am





Great feedback tip from a life histories Interviewer lecturer at my grad school is to scroll through and look at the shape of your transcripts.

Who’s doing the talking, you or your participant? One liners or paragraphs? If they’re not right you have to work on how your questions.

Comment by Jaimes Nel 01.12.12 @ 3:40 am





Training
RIVA
NLP
understanding the Socratic Method and logic

Comment by Matt 01.12.12 @ 11:23 am




[...] conversations and what kinds of opportunities I am seeing and looking for. Hot on the heels of Steve’s post with tips to improve interviewing skills, I hoped to surface a new point or [...]

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