How To Conduct An Interview With Expert

[laucity0513]

Hi all.

I am planning to conduct an interview with some experts but I am not sure which tools have to be used. Please give me your comments and recommendations.

I am not in US so it is quite hard for me to talk over the phone with them. Firstly, the cost. Secondly, I have no idea what tool to use to record the interview. Can anybody tells me that?

Somebody tells me to use Skype-Call. Does it mean that both of me and the expert have to install Skype and talk over the internet?

I am just wondering how do you guys conduct an interview with the experts out there, especially for those that not in US. Do give me your suggestions on the tools of:

1. Conduct interview
2. Record the interview
3. Edit the audio

It is good if you can recommend some of the easy to use and low cost resources.

Thank you so much.

[jhongren]

I used this for interviewing IM gurus.

You can use this
PowerGramo Skype Recorder - Record skype and do a lot more! and it is free.

John

[Cash Blasters Online]

I wish I could help you, but I have only done Interviews a couple times and someone else set that up.
I wish you best...Merry Xmas

[James Schramko]

I do interviews all the time and I use Skype with Pamela and from Skype you can call any phone number at a low cost or if the other person has a skype then it is free.

[laucity0513]

Hey John and James, thanks for giving me your comments. I will try them. Merry X'mas!

[laucity0513]

Hey Cash Blasters,

Merry X'mas to you too. Oh you mean you hired somebody to conduct the interview for you or get the person to set up the device for you? Ya I was thinking of getting somebody to get it done too. Thanks!

[marciayudkin]

Hi there,

I'm an expert and have been interviewed dozens - maybe hundreds - of times by phone.

If someone was going to interview me from outside of the U.S., I would expect either they would call me directly at their expense or they'd ask me to call a U.S.-based conference call line. (You can use freeconferencecall.com for that and both the line and the recording are indeed free.)

If I were asked to make an overseas call or asked to use Skype for the call, I would back out of the deal. To me, both those options are unprofessional.

Hope this helps.

Marcia Yudkin
Author, 6 Steps to Free Publicity and 10 other books
http://www.yudkin.com/publicityideas.htm

[Lee McIntyre]

I second what James said - you really can't go wrong with Skype and Pamela. And as James points out the other person doesn't need to be on Skype as you can "call out" from your Skype account and record the call at your end.

Recently I've participated in lots of interviews using conference lines but none have matched the call quality of Skype and Pamela. The resulting recording is fantastically clear.

I hope this helps

Lee McIntyre

[Stanley Tang]

I wrote a blog post (actually a 6-part-series) about it a while back going through step-by-step how to conduct an interview with experts:

http://www.emillionsblog.com/why-you...do-interviews/

[robinaraoz]

Together with everything you guys just mention, I would like to add this resource my partner and I use to interview people, and best of all, it's free:

Free Online Radio - Internet Talk Radio | BlogTalkRadio

Kind Regards,
Robin

[Heather Vale]

Originally Posted by laucity0513

Hey Cash Blasters,

Merry X'mas to you too. Oh you mean you hired somebody to conduct the interview for you or get the person to set up the device for you? Ya I was thinking of getting somebody to get it done too. Thanks!

I do interviews for other people (as well as for myself)... the link to my Warrior services thread is in my sig file.

Skype does have some nice options for recording now (a few years ago that was not the case so I ditched Skype early on)... but sometimes it will randomly disconnect in the middle of an interview if your internet connection glitches for a second.

But you will probably be doing Skype Out rather than Skype to Skype, because as someone else pointed out, if your interviewees are pros but not all that internet savvy, you can't expect them to have Skype or use it for an interview.

If you have them call your conference line (FreeConferencePro is the one I use now) then you can do a backup recording through the conference line, and also use your Skype recording tool for the main recording. You'll be going Skype Out to the conference line and they can use any phone they want. But FCP has terrible MP3 quality, so only do that if you're going to use the WAV recording (they supply both).

Even better for teleconference recording is Instant Teleseminar. You can have it dial any number you like, so you can still use FCP and record it through IT for a better quality recording than you'll get direct from FCP.

Personally I use a pro studio setup now, but that won't be cost effective for you at this point.

Good luck!
Heather

[Steven Wagenheim]

I know you're asking about tools, but let me add my 2 cents about something
else.

Write up the questions for the Interview and send them to the person before
you actually do it so that they can prepare things. You don't want to do
this off the cuff.

1. Start with an intro about who the person is and what they've done.

2. Welcome them to the interview.

3. Ask your questions in order.

4. At the end, ask the person if they'd like to add anything. This is where
they will give some last thoughts and give their promotional link.

5. Thank them for their time and say your goodbyes, making sure you
repeat the link that they gave the people.

Simple, basic outline but it helps keep things moving quickly and smoothly.

[Heather Vale]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

I know you're asking about tools, but let me add my 2 cents about something
else.

Write up the questions for the Interview and send them to the person before
you actually do it so that they can prepare things. You don't want to do
this off the cuff.

1. Start with an intro about who the person is and what they've done.

2. Welcome them to the interview.

3. Ask your questions in order.

4. At the end, ask the person if they'd like to add anything. This is where
they will give some last thoughts and give their promotional link.

5. Thank them for their time and say your goodbyes, making sure you
repeat the link that they gave the people.

Simple, basic outline but it helps keep things moving quickly and smoothly.

If you've never done an interview before, this might help you feel more comfortable... but honestly, I don't recommend this.

The reason is that something might come up that's way more interesting or revealing or valuable than you ever could have anticipated; if you've given them a list of questions and they expect you to follow it, and you have in your mind that you ARE going to follow it, you could be missing the true GOLD in your interview.

Go ahead and have your outline, but be prepared to listen to what the expert says and follow up with what they say before going back to your pre-conceived questions (and not necessarily in order; you might have to, or want to, jump around a bit).

Only share the questions if they ASK for it specifically; otherwise, just share the basic topics you'd like to cover, and let them know that it's not set in stone and that you might not end up talking about some things, or you might end up going in a different direction if they say something you'd like to ask about.

As for the welcoming them, and letting them add their final words and link -- yes, absolutely (you might make that an affiliate link with a redirect from your site, i.e. yoursite.com/expertproduct to make it easy for people to remember and type in).

cheers
Heather

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Heather Vale

If you've never done an interview before, this might help you feel more comfortable... but honestly, I don't recommend this.

The reason is that something might come up that's way more interesting or revealing or valuable than you ever could have anticipated; if you've given them a list of questions and they expect you to follow it, and you have in your mind that you ARE going to follow it, you could be missing the true GOLD in your interview.

Go ahead and have your outline, but be prepared to listen to what the expert says and follow up with what they say before going back to your pre-conceived questions (and not necessarily in order; you might have to, or want to, jump around a bit).

Only share the questions if they ASK for it specifically; otherwise, just share the basic topics you'd like to cover, and let them know that it's not set in stone and that you might not end up talking about some things, or you might end up going in a different direction if they say something you'd like to ask about.

As for the welcoming them, and letting them add their final words and link -- yes, absolutely (you might make that an affiliate link with a redirect from your site, i.e. yoursite.com/expertproduct to make it easy for people to remember and type in).

cheers
Heather

Heather, those who are "polished" at doing interviews, such as myself
who can talk off the cuff for hours, can do this. A person doing his first
interview is going to be scared out of his wits and won't be able to handle
the free form approach that easily. I know. I've been interviewed by some
people who could just about get the questions out, let alone improvise.

Make sure you're comfortable doing the basic outline first before you
try to shoot from the hip.

[Ric Raftis]

Seems we've gone into tips here, so I'll add a comment of my own.

One of the mistakes I have heard many new interviewers make is commenting or start discussing the answers made by the person being interviewed. The whole purpose of the interview is to elicit the opinions of the person being interviewed. That's what people want to hear. Not the interviewer's opinions and retorts. Stick to asking questions and let the person being interviewed provide the content.

All the best with it!

Cheers,

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Ric Raftis

Seems we've gone into tips here, so I'll add a comment of my own.

One of the mistakes I have heard many new interviewers make is commenting or start discussing the answers made by the person being interviewed. The whole purpose of the interview is to elicit the opinions of the person being interviewed. That's what people want to hear. Not the interviewer's opinions and retorts. Stick to asking questions and let the person being interviewed provide the content.

All the best with it!

Cheers,

Unless the interviewee agrees to a hot debate from the get go. These
can be the most fascinating and entertaining interviews, especially when
both parties are experienced and successful marketers.

The differences of opinion can be subtle, but that's all it takes.

Ever watch Loud Mouths on FSNY? I think it's Shine and Carlin.

Love watching those guys going at it.

Now THAT'S entertainment.

[James Schramko]

You don't need to get too tied up in the technique if you are new. Just get in touch with people and record it.

I started adding recordings of my chats with other marketers to my blog and they are getting downloaded heaps. People like natural conversations with real people so make sure you favor action over perfection...

[NewbiesDiary]

I've just finished a series of interviews - I had a great time and was definitely better by the end of the last interview than I was at the beginning, but its all a learning curve and I totally enjoyed myself!

I used skype and camtasia to record it - simply cause I have camtasia and I am comfortable using it. I just saved it as an audio. The sound came out great.

I didn't have anyone tell me they wouldnt use Skype - one IM'er did say he'd have to dust it down as it hadn't been used for a while, but he was still happy to use Skype.

I also explained to all my interviewees that I'm new to this & apologised in advance, had a laugh about it and they were all great to chat to!

[Heather Vale]

Originally Posted by Steven Wagenheim

Heather, those who are "polished" at doing interviews, such as myself
who can talk off the cuff for hours, can do this. A person doing his first
interview is going to be scared out of his wits and won't be able to handle
the free form approach that easily. I know. I've been interviewed by some
people who could just about get the questions out, let alone improvise.

Make sure you're comfortable doing the basic outline first before you
try to shoot from the hip.

Hi Steven,

I'm sure you have a lot of experience doing interviews. I have never heard people mention your reputation, but I'd love to hear some of what you've done. However, I can say that for myself, after doing thousands of interviews, teaching many TV presenters and fellow marketers how to do interviews, and befriending many of the other top online interviewers working today, that some of your assumptions are not always true.

First of all, you're assuming the OP is doing his "first" interview; he may or may not be, he didn't say this (although if he is, I did say in my previous post, "If you've never done an interview before, this might help you feel more comfortable.")

Secondly, you're assuming that if it is his first interview, he's "scared out of his wits". Hmmm... I figure if he was that scared, he would have been asking for questioning techniques rather than just for "tools" and how to record it.

Anyone who is drawn to doing interviews (like the other posters here who mentioned their first times) is going to be either a) an outgoing "people person" who enjoys chatting with others, b) a curious investigative type who loves discovering how others do what they do, c) an introvert who thrives off listening to others and helping them shine in a spotlight, or some combination of the above.

People who are "scared out of their wits" are maybe not cut out to do interviews, and should be concentrating on their strengths instead; there are many wonderful ways to make money online, and they might be better suited to writing articles, doing PPC, or some other technique that doesn't involve human interaction or being recorded. By giving a black-and-white step-by-step formula for how you think "scared" people should do interviews, you're not catering to people's natural tendencies and passions.

Everyone has nervousness the first time, or the first few times, or even the first few hundred times if they care about doing a good job (just like Bruce Springsteen admits to still being nervous every time he plays a concert); but not everybody is "scared out of his wits" and even if they are, that doesn't render them incapable of improvising around their interview outline instead of just reading pre-written questions like a robot.

Reading a list of questions, by the way, is technically a "questionnaire" or a "Q&A" and not an "interview". The word "inter-view" means literally an exchange of views, not a Q&A session.

Ric... you said "One of the mistakes I have heard many new interviewers make is commenting or start discussing the answers made by the person being interviewed." Steven took that to mean a "debate", but I'm going to comment only on what you actually said... "discussing the answers".

And actually, an interviewer that is skilled enough to discuss the answers given, clarify the "how-tos" for the listener, clear up any confusion based on differing answers from other experts in the same series, and even take those answers to a new level by digging deeper, will provide a much more valuable piece of work for the audience than someone who just goes on to their next pre-written question. There is no "debate" implied here, just being an advocate for the audience and making sure everything is clear.

For "NewbiesDiary"... yes, you're right, not too many IMers will balk at using Skype. But the OP said "experts" and, depending on the niche, those experts (perhaps authors, perhaps teachers, perhaps CEOs, etc) might not even know what Skype is. So it's definitely important for the interviewer to know not just their audience, but also the interviewees they'll be featuring.

cheers
Heather

[NewbiesDiary]

Originally Posted by Heather Vale

Hi Steven,

I'm sure you have a lot of experience doing interviews. I have never heard people mention your reputation, but I'd love to hear some of what you've done. However, I can say that for myself, after doing thousands of interviews, teaching many TV presenters and fellow marketers how to do interviews, and befriending many of the other top online interviewers working today, that some of your assumptions are not always true.

First of all, you're assuming the OP is doing his "first" interview; he may or may not be, he didn't say this.

Secondly, you're assuming that if it is his first interview, he's "scared out of his wits". Hmmm... I figure if he was that scared, he would have been asking for questioning techniques rather than just how to record it.

Anyone who is drawn to doing interviews (like the other posters here who mentioned their first times) is going to be either a) an outgoing "people person" who enjoys chatting with others, b) a curious investigative type who loves discovering how others do what they do, c) an introvert who thrives off listening to others and helping them shine in a spotlight, or some combination of the above.

People who are "scared out of their wits" are maybe not cut out to do interviews, and should be concentrating on their strengths instead; there are many wonderful ways to make money online, and they might be better suited to writing articles, doing PPC, or some other technique that doesn't involve human interaction or being recorded. By giving a black-and-white step-by-step formula for how you think "scared" people should do interviews, you're not catering to people's natural tendencies and passions.

Everyone has nervousness the first time, or the first few times, or even the first few hundred times if they care about doing a good job (just like Bruce Springsteen admits to still being nervous every time he plays a concert); but not everybody is "scared out of his wits" and even if they are, that doesn't render them incapable of improvising around their interview outline instead of just reading pre-written questions like a robot.

Reading a list of questions, by the way, is technically a "questionnaire" or a "Q&A" and not an "interview". The word "inter-view" means literally an exchange of views, not a Q&A session.

Ric... you said "One of the mistakes I have heard many new interviewers make is commenting or start discussing the answers made by the person being interviewed." Steven took that to mean a "debate", but I'm going to comment only on what you actually said... "discussing the answers".

And actually, an interviewer that is skilled enough to discuss the answers given, clarify the "how-tos" for the listener, clear up any confusion based on differing answers from other experts in the same series, and even take those answers to a new level by digging deeper, will provide a much more valuable piece of work for the audience than someone who just goes on to their next pre-written question. There is no "debate" implied here, just being an advocate for the audience and making sure everything is clear.

For "NewbiesDiary"... yes, you're right, not too many IMers will balk at using Skype. But the OP said "experts" and, depending on the niche, those experts (perhaps authors, perhaps teachers, perhaps CEOs, etc) might not even know what Skype is. So it's definitely important for the interviewer to know not just their audience, but also the interviewees they'll be featuring.

cheers
Heather

Hi Heather - I dont know if it's just me but you are coming off a bit brash.

I have never heard people mention your reputation

Maybe you could have a bit of a read on this forum.

Steven is a well respected, fulltime internet marketer and is a valuable member of this forum, and I along with others here consider him an expert in his field.

I've interviewed Steven and had no trouble chatting with him about what he was telling me - AND I used the system Steven suggested. It made life a lot easier for me, made sure I couldnt lose track of where I was or what I wanted to say. I think the people listening to the interview will agree that I had no problem chatting with Steven about individual points during the interview, but it gave me somewhere to go back to.

And when I say I interviewed Warriors - they are also very well respected and successful full time internet marketers and I would consider each and every one of them to be an expert in their field.

I wish I'd had Steven's suggestion when I did my first interview as I was scared out of my wits, cause I was interviewing Willie Crawford.

I think this post was was meant to be a friendly call for a few tips by someone wanting to get started and I've found the posts to be very helpful.

[daddyg]

Hi

I'm certainly no expert on interviews but I have done 3 or 4 now, including a couple with Lee McIntyre and one with Rosalind Gardner. I have a few suggestions and tips from my own experience.

For recording, I would say if you do use skype, it's a good idea to make sure you have a backup recording system in place as skype can drop out mid-interview. I've had this happen to me...not good!

One backup system Ben Settle recommended to me is to use a digital voice recorder and an Olympus TP7 Telephone Pickup recording Device. It goes in your ear and records your phone conversation into the voice recorder.

Hotrecorder.com is another decent low-cost recording desktop app for recording skype calls.

Finally with regards to conducting the interview itself, I've personally sent my interviewees questions before the interview. But I would recommend only sending broad outline topics instead.

The problem is, once you start interviewing it's very hard to keep to a pre-written list of questions, as the conversation will inevitably go off on tangents and the interview won't flow if you're constantly trying to shoehorn the interview back onto script, so to speak.

Another tip...when you are interviewing someone, try not to say things like, 'sure', 'I see', 'yeah' etc as the interviewee is speaking. It will feel strange and possibly a bit unnatural keeping quiet, but the recorded interview itself will sound better for it.

Hope that helps,

Graham

[Lee McIntyre]

The best tip I can share is to try your best to put the interviewee at ease with the situation, and to act like you're genuinely interested in what they have to say.

And obviously it helps if you REALLY are interested in the content!

Personally I think it's much better to just send over some very broad questions and then to go with the flow, but I can certainly see the merit in having some pre written questions if you're just getting started.

I hope that helps!

Lee McIntyre

[Paul Myers]

Heather,

No reason you can't do both. I've found, though, that very few people are sharp enough listeners to follow your suggestion and get better results. The ones who are can get really useful things out of people that others would have missed.

I honestly believe that intelligent listening is one of the most undervalued skills in this business. Even if you're not planning on doing interviews (from either end.)

Knowing how to ask really good questions is another.

Ric,

Depends on the situation. When I used to do a lot of interviews, the interviewer tended to be someone I knew, who had a lot of experience in the field. In those cases, I wasn't the least bit hesitant about asking the interviewer for their tips and ideas on the subject.

I don't think I've ever allowed an interview to be a one-way exhange of information. They always turn into discussions, or even brainstorming sessions.

That does tend to make the conversations go on a bit longer than originally planned, but the end result is usually a lot better than was expected.


Paul

[Heather Vale]

Originally Posted by NewbiesDiary

Hi Heather - I dont know if it's just me but you are coming off a bit brash.

Maybe you could have a bit of a read on this forum.

Steven is a well respected, fulltime internet marketer and is a valuable member of this forum, and I along with others here consider him an expert in his field.

Hi NewbiesDiary,

Yes, I know Steven is well respected as a marketer and an articles expert; but I've never heard him mentioned as an interviewing expert, and I've never talked to anyone who has been interviewed by him, and that was simply what I said. His "reputation" referred to his reputation as an interviewer (and he referred to himself as a "polished" interviewer), nothing more, nothing less.

BTW I was sincere in saying I'd love to hear some of what he's done. Meaning, some of the interviews he's done.

Yes, perhaps it is your perception of the "brashness". I am simply speaking from many years of experience in my field of expertise, to help the OP and others in his situation with some helpful tips.

Originally Posted by NewbiesDiary

I've interviewed Steven and had no trouble chatting with him about what he was telling me - AND I used the system Steven suggested. It made life a lot easier for me, made sure I couldnt lose track of where I was or what I wanted to say. I think the people listening to the interview will agree that I had no problem chatting with Steven about individual points during the interview, but it gave me somewhere to go back to.

EXACTLY... that is what I am saying, NOT to get stuck to reading a list of questions in order (as Stephen suggested) but in fact to be able to "chat", go away from the "script" if need be, and have it to come back to when required. Or, as I said, "improvise around the interview outline".

So you're actually agreeing with what I suggested, and not with Stephen's suggestion of just reading a list of questions in order.

Originally Posted by NewbiesDiary

And when I say I interviewed Warriors - they are also very well respected and successful full time internet marketers and I would consider each and every one of them to be an expert in their field.

I'm not sure why you think I said you didn't interview experts... hmm. I think maybe you've misunderstood much of what I've written, which is worth another look IMHO.

cheers
Heather

[Heather Vale]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

Heather,

No reason you can't do both. I've found, though, that very few people are sharp enough listeners to follow your suggestion and get better results. The ones who are can get really useful things out of people that others would have missed.

I honestly believe that intelligent listening is one of the most undervalued skills in this business. Even if you're not planning on doing interviews (from either end.)

Knowing how to ask really good questions is another.

Hi Paul,

Yes, absolutely... I always say that LISTENING is the #1 skill an interviewer can have. Yes, listening over the ability to ask questions.

Definitely one of today's most important and yet most undervalued skills, in so many areas of life... and you're right, it certainly does allow the interviewer to "get really useful things out of people that others would have missed".

BTW I've never said NOT to have an outline of questions, or even better, talking points and topics that should be hit upon in the interview (in case that's what you meant by "No reason you can't do both").

But the art of interviewing really comes out when you can stray from the "map" and come back only when you get "lost".

cheers
Heather

[JasonKing]

Try the following tools:

1. Skype
2. Pamela Systems
3. Audacity

Hope it helps.

-JasonKing

[David_Thompson]

Originally Posted by Paul Myers

Heather,

No reason you can't do both. I've found, though, that very few people are sharp enough listeners to follow your suggestion and get better results. The ones who are can get really useful things out of people that others would have missed.

I honestly believe that intelligent listening is one of the most undervalued skills in this business. Even if you're not planning on doing interviews (from either end.)

Knowing how to ask really good questions is another.

Ric,

Depends on the situation. When I used to do a lot of interviews, the interviewer tended to be someone I knew, who had a lot of experience in the field. In those cases, I wasn't the least bit hesitant about asking the interviewer for their tips and ideas on the subject.

I don't think I've ever allowed an interview to be a one-way exhange of information. They always turn into discussions, or even brainstorming sessions.

That does tend to make the conversations go on a bit longer than originally planned, but the end result is usually a lot better than was expected.


Paul

Merry Christmas to you Paul and everyone on the forum, this one little tidbit about listening is the best piece of advise and it is a 100% true.

I'm just getting started into this whole interviewing thing and I realize
early if you don't listen to what the expert is saying, you'll miss the doors
that are being open up to pull some kickass content from that person.

Have a list as a bases is good but the nuggets is about instantly noticing
the hidden doors opening, the opportunity passing by and grabbing and
running with it...

--David

[Paul Myers]

David,

A Merry Christmas to you, as well, sir. And thank you.

One thing that I've found really helpful that goes along with this: As the interviewee, it's very useful to know a bit about the interviewer, if they're also someone with expertise in your market. That helps you to get them more involved, it adds to their credibility, shows that you have an interest, and generally makes things a lot more casual and fun.

Probably the best interview I've ever been in on was one that Jeff Walker and I did a couple of years ago. Not coincidentally, Jeff and I have been friends for 10 or 11 years. We know enough about each others' history and attitudes that it was more like a marketing jam than a traditional interview.

That chat wouldn't have been anywhere near as productive if we hadn't known each other so well.

If you have the chance, get to know something about the person you're talking with, no matter which end of the rope you're on.


Paul

[Steven Wagenheim]

Originally Posted by Heather Vale

Hi Steven,

I'm sure you have a lot of experience doing interviews. I have never heard people mention your reputation, but I'd love to hear some of what you've done. However, I can say that for myself, after doing thousands of interviews, teaching many TV presenters and fellow marketers how to do interviews, and befriending many of the other top online interviewers working today, that some of your assumptions are not always true.

First of all, you're assuming the OP is doing his "first" interview; he may or may not be, he didn't say this (although if he is, I did say in my previous post, "If you've never done an interview before, this might help you feel more comfortable.")

Secondly, you're assuming that if it is his first interview, he's "scared out of his wits". Hmmm... I figure if he was that scared, he would have been asking for questioning techniques rather than just for "tools" and how to record it.

Anyone who is drawn to doing interviews (like the other posters here who mentioned their first times) is going to be either a) an outgoing "people person" who enjoys chatting with others, b) a curious investigative type who loves discovering how others do what they do, c) an introvert who thrives off listening to others and helping them shine in a spotlight, or some combination of the above.

People who are "scared out of their wits" are maybe not cut out to do interviews, and should be concentrating on their strengths instead; there are many wonderful ways to make money online, and they might be better suited to writing articles, doing PPC, or some other technique that doesn't involve human interaction or being recorded. By giving a black-and-white step-by-step formula for how you think "scared" people should do interviews, you're not catering to people's natural tendencies and passions.

Everyone has nervousness the first time, or the first few times, or even the first few hundred times if they care about doing a good job (just like Bruce Springsteen admits to still being nervous every time he plays a concert); but not everybody is "scared out of his wits" and even if they are, that doesn't render them incapable of improvising around their interview outline instead of just reading pre-written questions like a robot.

Reading a list of questions, by the way, is technically a "questionnaire" or a "Q&A" and not an "interview". The word "inter-view" means literally an exchange of views, not a Q&A session.

Ric... you said "One of the mistakes I have heard many new interviewers make is commenting or start discussing the answers made by the person being interviewed." Steven took that to mean a "debate", but I'm going to comment only on what you actually said... "discussing the answers".

And actually, an interviewer that is skilled enough to discuss the answers given, clarify the "how-tos" for the listener, clear up any confusion based on differing answers from other experts in the same series, and even take those answers to a new level by digging deeper, will provide a much more valuable piece of work for the audience than someone who just goes on to their next pre-written question. There is no "debate" implied here, just being an advocate for the audience and making sure everything is clear.

For "NewbiesDiary"... yes, you're right, not too many IMers will balk at using Skype. But the OP said "experts" and, depending on the niche, those experts (perhaps authors, perhaps teachers, perhaps CEOs, etc) might not even know what Skype is. So it's definitely important for the interviewer to know not just their audience, but also the interviewees they'll be featuring.

cheers
Heather

Heather, you make some excellent points...Maybe someday you can
interview me.

J/K

[Steven Wagenheim]

Oh, and I do want to clarify one thing here. If you read my original post,
nowhere in it did I say that you don't expand on the questions you're
asking if you need more clarification. I assumed that's just common sense.

For example...

"Steve can you tell us what you recommend for writing a resource box"

"Well, the way I do it is by...(gives explanation)"

"Can you elaborate more on that last part. It sounded a little complex"

or

"Does this work for all niches?"

or

"What kind of results do you get doing that?"

I mean I expect the interviewer to have a little bit of their own mind
and be able to add something to a list of questions. If they can't do that
then by all means, stick to the questions.

So Heather, I think you were taking what I said a little too literally.

[Modekurti]

You have already been ofrered tools to be used by experts. In addition following steps will help you conduct effective interviews:

Step1
Call your source and clearly identify yourself. State what the article is about and how long the interview will take. Most interviews should be able to be completed within 20 to 30 minutes.

Step2
Ask your source to spell their name. It’s good to start with this so you don’t forget to ask.

Step3
Start by asking the source for any background information you may need for the article.

Step4
Be conversational. Help the source to feel that you are interested in what they have to say.

Step5
Finish the interview by asking your source if there is anything they want to add that you didn’t ask about. Often the source will reveal important details that you may not have thought to ask about.

Step6
Thank your source and let them know when the article will appear in the magazine.

Wish you all yhe best.

Modekurti.