Interviewing 101

((I originally wrote this as a private document for one of my friends who was doing a live interview for the first time. After finding it in my Google Drive, I realized it would be way more helpful to post it publicly. This guide was intended for interviews where both parties are on camera, and a lot of the advice works for any type of interview.))

Article Outline
Clicking the links in the outline will open an audio version of that section.
1. You are not the subject.
2. Do your research.
3. Start your interview with introductions.
4. Make your question the last part of your comment.
5. Stay (mostly) still.
6. Keep calm and carry on.
7. Smile!

1. You are not the subject

An interview is not a conversation where both parties have equal say. You should only be talking about a fourth of the time. Your main responsibility is pulling engaging answers out of your subject. Think of yourself like a boat captain taking the audience on a ride. Your goal is to guide the boat past interesting places, not make the passengers focus on your steering.

Part of an interview involves being a people person. Have your list of questions ready, but if you see your subject light up after a certain question or discussing a certain topic, follow that.

2. Do your research

Make sure you know the most important and most recent accomplishments of your interview subject before you go into the interview. This will help you formulate your questions and will also prevent any embarrassing off-the-cuff remarks, like making a negative joke about a company that used to employ them.

Learning about your subject is also crucial to putting together your introduction and list of questions. If you want to go really in-depth, check some of their past interviews (if available). That way, you don’t just copy what they’ve already been asked and you can take advantage of the types of questions they like. In general, ask ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions rather than yes-or-no ones.

3. Start your interview with introductions.

The introductions make sure everyone is on the same page. The audience wants to know why they should care. The interview subject wants to be reassured that you are prepared for the interview and you have done your homework. In some cases, your introduction can help clarify the point of the interview. If you were interviewing a professional actor who was also a Grammy award-winning singer, your introduction lets both your subject and audience know that you're only going to be talking about music today.

Introductions help you get to the most interesting questions and answers as soon as possible. Never start by asking someone job interview-type questions about how long they've been in the business or the various projects they've worked on. Take these examples from a made-up interview with an MMO GM.

BAD:
"How long have you been a GM for your MMO?"
"Well I started as a player in 2000, but I took a break for a few years to focus on other things. I started applying to jobs in 2003 and I took a general customer service job first, working at a tech desk doing support for an unrelated company...."
BETTER:
"Now let's welcome GM McPlayer, a player-turned-professional who's been involved with MMOGame since 2000. As a player, they joined Awesome Guild in clearing Bad Dungeon first. As a GM, they oversaw the return of GM-controlled enemy character fights and started an official Twitch team for the game. Today we'll talk about how both the people and the game have changed over the years. You've been involved with MMO for more than 15 years. What was the player base like in 2000, and how have you seen it change since then?”

The first question doesn't lead to an interesting or helpful answer from the interview. Instead, if you start with the basic facts about your subject, you can move on to more interesting things.

4. Make your question the last part of your comment.

When you talk in a regular conversation, it's normal to sprinkle questions everywhere, even if you intend to continue talking. In an interview, make sure that any explanation or backstory of your question comes first. The question should be the last thing before you give your subject a chance to speak.

BAD:
"Do you like talking to players? Because it seems like every player wants a different thing and you can't always respond to them all, but then you have the responsibility of being an official point-of-contact for the game. So it's kind of your job and kind of not, and how do you deal with that balancing act of being friendly and helpful while telling people 'no', and knowing you're going to get criticized for it later. Can you even play the game for fun anymore?"
BETTER:
"As a player-facing employee in an official capacity, you have direct interaction with the players, and they're not always the most polite. How do you balance having fun and being professional without getting overwhelmed?"

The first one is essentially thoughts spoken out loud. It puts too much focus on the interviewer's opinion rather than the subject's response. Worse, it is confusing and has way too many different ideas. Your subject shouldn't have to figure out what the question is.

Make it as easy as possible for your subject to answer. Some questions might require a bit more backstory to set the baseline. For example, if you're discussing a specific event, you should give a brief overview of what happened so both the subject and the audience understand the context. Giving a short explanation is fine as long as it ultimately pulls a good answer from the subject. Just don't spend five minutes explaining every single question.

5. Stay (mostly) still.

Even though you're not talking, that doesn't mean you should choose to do other things. Avoid unnecessary fidgeting, checking chat, pulling at your clothes, or looking at something else while doing the interview. Why? First of all, it might get picked up on your mic, which dilutes the sound quality of the interview. Second, if you're doing a video interview, both your subject and your audience can see that you're not interested in what the subject is saying. It's insulting to the subject and it makes the audience wonder why they should bother to watch if even the interviewer is bored.

If you're not getting good answers out of your subject, that's on you. It usually means that you did not prepare adequately beforehand or you're not truly listening to their responses. Don't just ask a question and wait to ask the next one. Actively listen to the answer and add follow-up questions based on what your subject just said. It's okay to abandon your list of premade questions to follow an interesting point. Remember, the focus is getting engaging, unique content out of your subject, not sticking to your list of questions.

6. Keep calm and carry on.

Sometimes, things go wrong. Maybe your mic starts malfunctioning or your subject doesn't want to talk about the only thing you wanted to talk about. Either way, you're not going to get the interview you want. But don't let that stop you from getting something out of it.

The audience, the cameraperson, the producer, the subject (if they're not being difficult) all look to you. If there's an issue, explain what happened, how you're working around it, and then move on. Mic doesn't work? "I apologize for the technical issues we're experiencing. I'm going to switch off my mic now and share yours, if you don't mind, for the next few questions. Now, what are your thoughts on..." Subject walks right by you? "Looks like X is focused on their next match, where they face the defending champions in a best-of-3. We'll try to catch up with them later, but for now, let's go back to the booth and see what our analysts have to say."

If you look frustrated, or angry, or helpless, or scared, the audience will pick up on that. Potential future employers will also pick up on that. You don't want to get a reputation as someone who falls apart; why would someone hire you for a big tournament if you can't handle regular-sized stress? Mistakes, missteps, and miscues are inevitable. But they don't have to drag you down. First, accept that problems will happen. Then, realize that you can turn mistakes into a way to showcase your professionalism and cool head under pressure, turning a short-term negative into a long-term positive.

7. Smile!

That last point sounded a bit dire, so let's end on a positive note. Interviewing is work, yeah, and it can be complicated and discouraging and time-consuming, like any kind of work.

But it can also be really, really fun. You get to hang out with cool people and ask them to tell you stories. You get to create a product that you're proud of, then share it with hundreds or thousands of people. And it's worth the work.

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