Pt. 3 in the “Interview Insights” Article Series
By ACN 2016 Past President Elaine Shein
What do you think is the most important part of doing a successful interview? Background research? Have the right questions? The right order of questions?
What about listening?
Thanks to those who have joined our conversation on interviewing on ACN’s Facebook page. Melanie Ruberti accepted the challenge to watch some late-night hosts and their interview style. She noted, “The host was quick to adapt his next question to what his guest said — so he paid attention and was thinking on his feet, which is important.”
C.F. Beacham added, “The good ones ALWAYS listen.”
Exactly. If you aren’t listening to the responses of the other person, you aren’t really in control of the interview. You risk the interview being derailed. You may hear the speaker, but aren’t listening if your question was really answered or how well it was answered. You’re missing the moment of knowing if you had the solid facts, anecdotes or great quotes you wanted.
You also may miss the chance to do a strong follow-up at an ideal time on something the interviewee said, whether it was you or someone else that asked that first question.
Think of some of the press conferences you may have attended or even just watched: Someone asked a question, the speaker at the podium either ignored the question or said something very interesting that deserved another question or two to flush out, challenge, or get a news-breaking statement … yet the moment passed and no one asked it because everyone was so intent on getting their own specific question answered.
If you’re not listening during the interview you’re doing, partly because you were so set on where you expected the interview to go, the actual focus of your story might have slipped past you.
Being a good listener may sound easy, but it is so easy to stray.
Too often we are all guilty of being so busy trying to think of our next question that we lose focus on the current one. Or, sometimes we thought we knew what the person was going to say, so we didn’t concentrate on what was actually said to see if the conversation is being redirected until it’s too late.
Politicians love to take advantage of that.
If we aren’t listening, we also sometimes hit those unexpected gaps — the person being interviewed has paused — and we think we need to quickly fill the space with another question, a statement, perhaps even a nervous joke.
It’s important to listen to not just the words someone is saying, but also the tone, since it hints what might come next. As emotions rise, those moments often lead to the strongest messages or experiences the person will share.
For example, someone may start to describe what it was like to see a wildfire approach the family ranch, but then start to be more emotional — and pause. Be patient and allow the time for the person to feel strong enough to continue with the story. Next may come the part of how gut-wrenching it was when the rancher had to decide between trying to save his panicked cattle — or driving away to save his own life.
How would such a story turn out? The following (in italics) is an excerpt from DTN Staff Reporter Todd Neeley’s story that he wrote in June, 2017 about wildfires in the Texas Panhandle. The color and level of detail in the story hint at how valuable Neeley’s listening skills were to get what he needed to write this type of feature.
Todd Neeley, DTN Staff Reporter
(Courtesy: DTN)
Asked about how he did the interview for this story, Neeley replied, “Plain and simple, I approach interviews like this in a listen-only mode. I remember these interviews like it was yesterday. These ranchers’ lives were in shambles really, so I let them just pour out what they were willing to talk about.
“I was like the family counselor and they were there to talk. I’ve learned over the years that too many reporters like to hear themselves talk. It’s far more gratifying to just be there to listen, very conversational really.”
**
Early in the day, as Chaz Rutledge sat in his pickup nine miles from home, he could see smoke building on the horizon. He called home to tell his wife and their children Milly, 2, and Hudson, 1, to head for town.
In a matter of minutes, flames jumped across the highway as he sat in his truck. He realized the swirling winds moved the flames far faster than anything he had ever seen.
Chaz Rutledge raced back to the house at 90 miles an hour on gravel roads.
“By the time I got down the roads and down to here, the fire was already on the ranch,” he said.
A helicopter pilot painted a bleak picture on the emergency radio, as he landed several times to evacuate area residents.
“At one point, they had told the helicopter pilot to try and get out in front of that fire and the fire chief said, ‘I can’t catch it,’” Chaz Rutledge said.
He scrambled to try to move cattle spread out across his 5,000 acres.
“They weren’t interested in following the feed pickup, and when the flames came over the hill in the pasture that I was in, I knew it was a futile effort. At that time, there was probably a five-mile-wide head fire and no way to get around it.”
A friend met Chaz Rutledge at the ranch headquarters where the family live; they turned on yard sprinklers and faucets.
The house sits down in a valley surrounded by trees and flanked to the north by a creek bed. As the fire approached from the west, there was concern the flames would leap into the tree line and creek bed, igniting potentially tons of fuel and overwhelming the house.
Chaz Rutledge rushed inside to grab a computer and his checkbook. The smoke was so thick outside they could barely see one another even three feet apart, but they could see flames build above a tree line behind the house.
“And, at that point, it was time to go,” Chaz Rutledge said.
There was fire as far as the eye could see to the east and south, so the only way to escape was to the west and north. …
**
(Courtesy: DTN)
To read the full story, go to https://www.dtnpf.com/agriculture/web/ag/news/farm-life/article/2017/06/13/shifting-wind-saves-texas-ranch
This week’s challenge: Think of a recent interview you did. How would you describe your own listening skills? Can you think of any chances you missed to do a great follow-up question?
Please join us on Agricultural Communicators Network’s Facebook page and share feedback about how important you think listening skills are in an interview, along with any tips you have on how to listen better. Perhaps you’d like to share a link to one of your own stories that you believe your listening skills helped contribute to its success?
Shein is DTN Associate Managing Editor in Omaha, Nebraska. She has formerly worked for Capital Press in Oregon, The Western Producer and Regina Leader-Post in Saskatchewan, Canada, and Gemini News Service in London, England.
Elaine Shein can be reached at [email protected]