How To Tell A Crappy Interview From A Great One: Part 2
If you look at the major TV interviewers, you’ll notice something quite quickly.
They’re not sloppy.
They’re not crappy.
And there’s something that marks them out from the average interviewer that you hear on most podcasts.
All the interviewers seem to have a set of questions.
And an agenda. A TV interviewer will almost never show up and just ask random questions. And often, these interviews last less than five minutes.
If it were one hour, the presenters would have extremely detailed questions, so that the interview followed a structure. That’s because they’re professionals. And not only are they professionals, but they’re smart enough to know that only a crappy interviewer would show up without being prepared.
So what’s involved in the preparation of the outline?
Here are the three core stages in any interview. Think of it as a good dinner. 
- Stage 1: Starters
- Introduction of the show
- Introduction of the guest
- Introduction and description of concept
- Stage 2: Main Course
- Agenda of three main topics being covered that day.
- Topic 1: Name of topic.
- Topic 2: Name of topic.
- Topic 3: Name of topic.
- Stage 3: Dessert
- Summary: Summary of the three topics covered
- Credits: Where the guest’s contact details are given to the audience.
- Sign Off
That’s it. And of course, you have to remember to be the interviewer. Not start telling your own stories, because reallllly…there’s only so much time. Let the interviewee speak. You’re just the person asking the questions and following a thread.
And of course, following the outline above.
That’s your job as an interviewer. To make sure you don’t end up being known as a ‘crappy interviewer.’
Footnote:
You’re probably keen to hear a live interview. This interview below is one of many interviews we do at www.5000bc.com. I interview smart people in different fields, authors, copywriters, wine bloggers etc This is just a recent interview I did with Gail Martin (and she’s promoting her fiction books using Facebook and other social media). So it’s worth listening to the interview in it’s own right, because Gail’s an exciting speaker—and she’s talking about book marketing as well as social media.
When you listen to the audio, pay attention to the three parts. You’ll ’see’ the starters, main course and dessert. . It’s important to listen, but if you would prefer the transcript, hey, that’s available as well as part of this great dinner.
Bon appetit!
And listen to this interview twice so that you can pick up the structure.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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