How To Be Sensitive to Your Interviewee

I’ve done a tooon of interviews in my career. Testimonials for local ads, salvation testimonies, healing testimonies, interviews from CEO/Founders, interviews of victims… ALL sorts of interviews.

So I’ve learned a lot in that time about interviewing, and now I have a very intentional process of how I approach interviews so that they are authentic and deep. One of the coolest things that I hear almost every time I interview someone is:

“Wow. You made that SO easy and comfortable.”

(Or something along those lines.) Despite being super nervous and anxious about being in front of the camera, they end up feeling so comfortable during the interview- like we’re essentially just chatting over coffee. I love hearing that from people because that means I’m doing my job really well, and that we’re getting a truly great interview. But that comes with lots of practice, because I’m very intentional in how I approach my interviews.

I was meditating on this the other day and thinking about all the people I’ve interviewed in the past 10 years or so. And I realized that I feel this special connection with them, like we’re friends. Even though many times we only had that one experience together, there’s something truly powerful about having a deep conversation where we’re being vulnerable with one another. And it’s awesome! :D But again, it’s very intentional too- so here is my tip for you regarding your interviewees.

STEP INTO THE INTERVIEWEE’S SHOES

I think too often we forget that the people in our stories, who we interview, aren’t just a means to an end.

We focus too much on our goal of an impacting story, and we forget that these people are human beings with real complex lives. We’re asking them to be vulnerable, to be put under the spot light, to be asked personal questions, to sit in front of a camera and lights for who knows how many people to see. That is so scary! People tend to be camera shy because they feel exposed, with nowhere to hide their flaws or mistakes.

So we need to step into their shoes.

Truly imagine taking their place, having their job, their family, the several stresses of life and keep that in mind with every interaction you have with them. From the pre-interviews when you’re calling them on the phone, to the way you set up the camera & lights.. to the way you handle the interview vibe and even after the interview, when their job is done.

These are real people, and they should feel like they're a priority.

You don’t want your interviewees to feel exploited- they should come first. And if something happens that you need to decide which will be the priority: your story or that person. Always choose the person.

People are #1 - they always should be.

When you can have this attitude in your interviews, they will go so much better. You can establish trust with your interviewee to the point they’ll feel comfortable talking to you (interviewing) and you’ll get a truly great interview.