Please give me your best tips on interviewing someone & writing profiles
February 3, 2021 2:18 PM Subscribe
Also please link me to helpful guides and your favorite non-celebrity academic people's profiles on the interwebs.
MeFi, PLEASE HELP!
Yesterday I sent a fangirl-ish note to thank a professor of psychoanalysis on YouTube whose super academic lectures are phenomenal. As a total afterthought, per the mantra that we miss all the shots we do not take, I ended my note with an invitation to chat if he was ever interested me doing a writeup/profile of him. I mentioned I'm mainly a fiction writer but I occasionally do articles and essays too, and that I would be excited to pitch something like that to the publications I've worked with in the past.
Reader, he said yes.
He's very enthusiastic about the idea, he AND HIS WHOLE TEAM (of 4 people total) are willing to speak with me.
And here I am, a rank beginner in this genre of work, and I'm expected to work with someone who's basically my hero? It's fair to say I am freaking out a whole goddamn lot.
Please give me your best tips for interviewing him and writing up a profile! I believe the team is interested in talking about their experience as YouTubers making their highly academic content accessible. Oh God. I am so screwed.
MeFi, PLEASE HELP!
Yesterday I sent a fangirl-ish note to thank a professor of psychoanalysis on YouTube whose super academic lectures are phenomenal. As a total afterthought, per the mantra that we miss all the shots we do not take, I ended my note with an invitation to chat if he was ever interested me doing a writeup/profile of him. I mentioned I'm mainly a fiction writer but I occasionally do articles and essays too, and that I would be excited to pitch something like that to the publications I've worked with in the past.
Reader, he said yes.
He's very enthusiastic about the idea, he AND HIS WHOLE TEAM (of 4 people total) are willing to speak with me.
And here I am, a rank beginner in this genre of work, and I'm expected to work with someone who's basically my hero? It's fair to say I am freaking out a whole goddamn lot.
Please give me your best tips for interviewing him and writing up a profile! I believe the team is interested in talking about their experience as YouTubers making their highly academic content accessible. Oh God. I am so screwed.
This is so exciting!! This probably isn’t a great place to start, but being that you are a fan girl, I think this is decent advice: Try to ask open ended questions and stay quiet enough for folks to finish their answers and expound on them. It might not be relevant depending on if the people you are profiling are chatty Cathy’s, but damn, do I love to talk and it took me a long time to learn to shut up. Some people fill the silence with wonderful info that you’d never hear otherwise if you’re like me and jump in too soon. It’ll be a conversation, sure, but make sure you’re leaving space for them to share.
posted by knownassociate at 4:27 PM on February 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by knownassociate at 4:27 PM on February 3, 2021 [3 favorites]
I have some experience interviewing and I find it fun in the moment, but very stressful before and after. (The writing is the hardest part, right?) One thing I tell myself if I’m nervous is that the person wants to talk and wants it to go smoothly. I know that sounds simplistic, but it really helps me prepare. They want to talk to you! That’s a great advantage. I often type out an introduction and practice right before I call. It’s good that he has an angle in mind, but I suggest beginning the talk with something you are interested in. You like his videos and topics, so maybe start with a background question about a specific video you like. You’ll probably naturally have a follow up to whatever he says. Then if you are out of your questions about that, then is when you can say “tell me about the topic you mentioned.” I find phrasing things like “talk about this topic” is easier than really pointed questions. You probably know this, but it’s much easier if you record the interview and always tell them you’re recording. I also take notes as backup and if there’s a pause, I make a point to say “just a moment, I’m making sure I got that down.” This just gives me a chance to regroup. I learned this one from Howard stern (who is controversial of course, but also is a great interviewer): at the end of the talk, describe the talk back to them. So I say, “we talked about this and this, and this ... Is there anything else you want to discuss?” Often reminding myself and the subject of the conversation brings out a good quote or recap from them. I like to ask if I can follow up via email for a clarification if needed and often an email question provides great content. Write all your notes and a very preliminary draft immediately after the interview- oh boy, if I could follow that advice I would save myself so much stress!
posted by areaperson at 4:39 PM on February 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by areaperson at 4:39 PM on February 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
From the academic side of things, not that I have lots of experience being profiled, but I enjoy answering questions about why I think my area of interest/expertise is important - but phrased and delivered in more of an "of course this is important, but in what ways is it important that people might not expect?" or "what do you think are the most important details for people to know about your work?" approach rather than an "is this going to be on the test/when will we ever use this in real life?" approach. I also like questions about how I got interested in topics I'm excited about (again, from the mutual appreciation of/excitement for the topic perspective rather than the "wow, you are weird and bizarre for liking that - how'd that happen you weird curiosity" perspective) You being a fan is an advantage here, I think, in that you shouldn't have to worry about these sort of tone of delivery pitfalls! Though you might have to put more effort into making sure that you think about your eventual readers and what sort of background details they'll need explained that you already know.
Since your interviewee is bringing his whole team, be sure to ask about everyone's contributions, of course. If part of your goal is to make everyone on the team feel valued and respected, and ensure that you get contributions from everyone, then I strongly suspect you won't have to worry about coming across as too "fangirl"-ish. :)
A suggestion that you have likely already considered: It sounds like these folks have probably thought a lot about science communication and related issues, so a balance between questions about their scientific work and also their communication work will likely be interesting for everyone (them, you as someone who it sounds like also communicates for a living, and your eventual audience).
posted by eviemath at 9:05 PM on February 3, 2021
Since your interviewee is bringing his whole team, be sure to ask about everyone's contributions, of course. If part of your goal is to make everyone on the team feel valued and respected, and ensure that you get contributions from everyone, then I strongly suspect you won't have to worry about coming across as too "fangirl"-ish. :)
A suggestion that you have likely already considered: It sounds like these folks have probably thought a lot about science communication and related issues, so a balance between questions about their scientific work and also their communication work will likely be interesting for everyone (them, you as someone who it sounds like also communicates for a living, and your eventual audience).
posted by eviemath at 9:05 PM on February 3, 2021
Ooooooh, I'm envious! I used to write portraits for a newspaper, it was my favourite assignment.
Here's the thing: Before you talk to him, research. Plot out your portrait. You need to have an idea in your head of what you would write about him right now, if you had to. Visualise the article. And then you walk in with that story in mind, but you keep your mind open to completely change it, depending on what fires your imagination as you listen to him. You need both states of mind simultaneously.
Because you are the expert on what makes a good story. But the other guy is the one who has all the stories. So on the one hand you want to keep him on track and not get too sidetracked from what you see as the story vein. And on the other you need to give him enough room to come up with the random stuff you could not have foreseen that makes magic happen!
When I say "the story", I also mean that you need to limit yourself. The guy is probably interesting and knowledgable in many different ways. But you kind of need to choose one or two avenues to explore or it gets too unfocussed.
I'll add more later - I'm excited for you!
posted by Omnomnom at 2:52 AM on February 4, 2021
Here's the thing: Before you talk to him, research. Plot out your portrait. You need to have an idea in your head of what you would write about him right now, if you had to. Visualise the article. And then you walk in with that story in mind, but you keep your mind open to completely change it, depending on what fires your imagination as you listen to him. You need both states of mind simultaneously.
Because you are the expert on what makes a good story. But the other guy is the one who has all the stories. So on the one hand you want to keep him on track and not get too sidetracked from what you see as the story vein. And on the other you need to give him enough room to come up with the random stuff you could not have foreseen that makes magic happen!
When I say "the story", I also mean that you need to limit yourself. The guy is probably interesting and knowledgable in many different ways. But you kind of need to choose one or two avenues to explore or it gets too unfocussed.
I'll add more later - I'm excited for you!
posted by Omnomnom at 2:52 AM on February 4, 2021
I think you're putting the cart before the horse. If this is something you intend to pitch to publications, you should probably do that before you do the interview. Yes, I know some people sell finished articles to publications, but I think you'd be better off (and more focused) if you go into the interview with an assignment in mind--i.e. what the publication's focus is, what the editor wants from the piece, the amount of space you'll have to tell the story, etc.
posted by sardonyx at 8:41 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by sardonyx at 8:41 AM on February 4, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think you're putting the cart before the horse. If this is something you intend to pitch to publications, you should probably do that before you do the interview
I assume that MiraK, having written for these publications before, knows how their pitching process works.
I don't know if you've done the interview already, but here are some questions that have reliably given me fun results. Typically, you'd ask them once you've both warmed up to each other.
(You probably know this, but for a good flow, when interviewing, always start from the outside in. Start with questions that are easy to answer and have few emotional components: who-what-when-how questions about the stuff your interviewee has done. Graduate to the feelings-questions, the motivations questions.)
- what was something you absolutely did not expect during that process/project?
- looking back at all the things you've learnt during this process, what is something you would never EVER do again? Or do differently?
- that *moment* must have been so much fun/exciting! Was that your favourite moment?
- what's something interesting people don't usually know about this topic? That makes them go "wow"?
- what's the biggest thing people usually get wrong about the topic? What would you like people to know?
- what was the most expensive part of the process/biggest or heaviest item/other superlative that makes sense
Obviously, these wouldn't be the main focus of your article. But in myexperience these are the kind of questions that make an interview fun for for both sides and an article fun to read later on.
posted by Omnomnom at 6:48 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
I assume that MiraK, having written for these publications before, knows how their pitching process works.
I don't know if you've done the interview already, but here are some questions that have reliably given me fun results. Typically, you'd ask them once you've both warmed up to each other.
(You probably know this, but for a good flow, when interviewing, always start from the outside in. Start with questions that are easy to answer and have few emotional components: who-what-when-how questions about the stuff your interviewee has done. Graduate to the feelings-questions, the motivations questions.)
- what was something you absolutely did not expect during that process/project?
- looking back at all the things you've learnt during this process, what is something you would never EVER do again? Or do differently?
- that *moment* must have been so much fun/exciting! Was that your favourite moment?
- what's something interesting people don't usually know about this topic? That makes them go "wow"?
- what's the biggest thing people usually get wrong about the topic? What would you like people to know?
- what was the most expensive part of the process/biggest or heaviest item/other superlative that makes sense
Obviously, these wouldn't be the main focus of your article. But in myexperience these are the kind of questions that make an interview fun for for both sides and an article fun to read later on.
posted by Omnomnom at 6:48 AM on February 7, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by caek at 3:46 PM on February 3, 2021