asking questions and interview styles investigation

Asking Questions and Interviewing Styles Investigation

Below is a chart I constructed that shows different Interviewing styles and techniques and how to ask questions. I made it as a chart because I wanted to make it easy to read and refer back to incase i need a refresher or new ideas about questioning in interviews. I've learned the importance of coming prepared to interviews, while also being open minded. I've also learned the importance of fluidity and how and when to ask questions in order to allow the interview to flow easily and therefore make it easy to edit without jumping from topic to topic. I'm excited to use these techniques in current and future films. 

Curiosity	Come to the interview with an “I don’t know anything” attitude. Don’t show off what you know about the topic during the interview, rather lead with genuine curiosity. This usually produces the most honest and compelling answers. If you’re in doubt about how to structure an interview, chronological interviews are best, where the subject is unraveling events according to a timeline. This gives you plenty of opportunity to encourage storytelling and ask, “what happened next?” or, “why was that?”
Listen up	The decision not to use narration in your film has important implications for conducting interviews. You will be listening for content and how that content can be shaped into a non-fiction story. Come to the interview well-researched and with a list of questions, but know that your job is not to get through the list; your job is to listen closely to the answers. You’re in discovery mode. You’re learning who your characters are and how their stories will inform your documentary. As interviewees unpack their tales you’re also listening for clarity and understanding. If something is not clear to you, you know your audience will be scratching their heads as well. Ask a follow up question for clarification. If you zone out just waiting for your subject to finish his answer so you can ask the next question, you’re going to miss opportunities to explore more deeply. SO be aware because i know you have ADD and tend to zone.
Going Deeper	If a subject goes on a tangent with their answer, let them go. It could get scenic and interesting. And if you want to get back to the original question, it’s ok to ask it again. The best way is to encourage your interviewee to tell a story. In fact you can make it an interviewer’s rule of thumb that if you want to probe deeper beyond the facts, places and dates, ask your subjects to tell you a story, an anecdote and to give plenty of examples.
Feeding the Questions	There’s a lot of debate about whether a director should provide questions to interviewees ahead of time. Be prepared; some interviewees will insist on it. For subject matter experts this will be most useful as they can dig up the necessary information to give you a confident and accurate account by the time they sit down in front of the camera. If your interviewee is one of the main subjects of your documentary, submitting a list of questions might not be the best approach for mining authentic and emotional responses. If the interview turns out to be an engaging exchange, chances are your question asking will be more organic as you discover your subject’s story and your curiosity will likely take you beyond the line of questioning you had in mind.
Open- ended	John Sawatsky, the renowned journalism teacher and interviewing guru currently training ESPN reporters, has this advice: “Keep questions short, to the point, open-ended — “yes” or “no” should not be a possible response.” Open-ended questions help put your interviewee in explainer mode and avoids short, unusable answers. Sawatsky gives this example: “Instead of asking: ‘It must have been tough in the early years,’ ask: ‘What were the early years like?’” Here are some of Sawatsky’s other suggestions for avoiding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers: How do you know that? What makes you say that? What happened next? What does that mean? Can you give me an example of that? What’s that like?