Anyone who is married will understand this statement: there's a big difference between really listening and fixing problems. And when there's a mismatch between what a spouse needs and what you're trying to provide, it's a quick recipe for a conversation to go awry!

And what is that difference? One is fixing problems, and one is creating a container. 

In this episode, I talk about this difference from my own experience, both on the interview set and through conversations with my lovely wife. My lovely wife who, graceful as she is, is patient with me when I jump into problem solving when what's really needed is creating a space for her to solve it for herself. And vise versa.

I also talk about how this out-pictures in an interview studio as well.

Husbands, this episode is for you! And you wives too. Really anyone who is an incorrigible problem solver, like I am too!

Am I the only one who gets nervous before I do an interview? Probably not! And for years I asked myself the question, "How do I get rid of this nervousness and anxiety that I experience before an interview?"

And then it hit me, and ever since I answered that question, dealing with the nervousness and anxiety has been much, much easier.

If you, like me, find yourself getting nervous before your interviews, I highly recommend you listen to this episode! 

A marketing interview is one of the toughest interview types to get sincerity because you have a purpose - you're trying to get a marketing message to talk about a company.

How do you ask questions that are on one hand directed toward the answers that you want but at the same time elicit sincere and emotional answers?

How do you inspire the interviewee to give you their all instead of just telling you and the audience what everybody wants to hear?

These are not easy answers. And in this interview, I talk about one interview I did recently for a marketing project that I'm working on, what I did well, what I could do better. I focus in on my own difficulty asking "hard questions" and my struggles in finding a way to do so without breaking the container of trust.

I'm going to be honest with you, friends. I struggle to ask the "hard questions." And I'm not even talking about asking hostile, attacking questions that get juicy little audio bytes and do nothing to genuinely get to the core of an interviewee. I'm talking about asking questions that really open up the bottle on a person's powerful emotions - because that's where an interview gets good and where it gets a little scary to hold.

In this episode, I explore a tiny bit of my own history and why I still, to this day, struggle to ask the hard questions. And yet I'm committed - like I hope each and every one of you are - to learning how to create powerful and safe containers for safety and trust, strong enough even to ask really difficult questions that won't break the trust and safety that you've created with my interviewees.

Interviews don't always have to be for an audience - sometimes they're just to retrieve information! But whatever the desired outcome, many of the same techniques apply for getting rockin' interviews in the can.

Recently I interviewed one of the ideal customers of a client who I'm designing a marketing funnel for. And it turned out excellent in many ways, I think, because of some of the interview techniques I used.

In this episode, I go back over that experience and talk about some of the things I did well which contributed to this successful interview...and a few things I could have done better too!

There's several different schools in interviewing and reporting:

The real difference between these schools is how they address the question of partiality.

There's no "right" answer to these questions, but if you're going to be someone who interviews and relays information you're going to have to address them for yourself and have a reason for why you answer them the way you do.

In this episode, I explore the different schools around these questions. I then talk about some of their flaws and holes. I then talk about my own way of dealing with and holding my own partiality in my own interviews.

And I then ask the question: how are you going to answer these questions and deal with yours?

Control is a negative buzzword in today's culture.

Controlling spouses. Controlling governments. Controlling religions. Control, control, control, I don't want to be controlled!

But actually, healthy control is essential to being a healthy human being and a quality interviewer.

But what's the difference between unhealthy and healthy control, both in general and in an interview?

In this episode, I explore the difference between discipline and manipulation, how they manifest in an interview for good and bad, and how to achieve influence by disciplining your interviewing practices and staying away from interviewee manipulation!

Some people are easy to research. Say if you're interviewing Ryan Reynolds. Or Meg Ryan. Or Ryan Meganolds. Wait...

Other people are not so easy to do research on. Say that one local business owner who has a good heart but thinks the internet will steal his soul. Or that Mennonite family that lives totally off the grid except for their once-a-week email check at the local library.

How in the modern world do you do research on these kinds of people?

In this episode, I suggest six surprising options for research you may not have thought about yourself. I don't talk about the standard ones like a website, social media, or the local library. Instead, I suggest several options from my own experience that work well for various types of people, even those types who abstain from social media and the internet for religious reasons or just maintenance of their sanity.

I recently watched Werner Herzog's documentary Into The Abyss. The film is a powerful look at the lives of a criminal on death row and the people who were affected by his supposed crimes.

One interesting thing about Werner Herzog is that, unlike many filmmakers, he includes some of his interview questions in the final film. Which is slightly odd stylistically, but great for me analyzing his interviewing style.

In this episode, I play back three interview sections in the film and explore what Werner Herzog, in my opinion, did well as an interviewer and, also, what he could have done better!

New years resolutions, Art of the Interview style...

I'll see you all in 2021!