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The art of interviewing: How to conduct a good interview

Tips and tricks for asking good questions that get good answers.

The art of interviewing: How to conduct a good interview
Wix Ai Image
By
Sabrina Sanchez
7 December 2022
less than 3 min read
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What’s top of mind at the watercooler.


In our last edition, Sidekick taught you everything you need to know about the technical side of podcasting. Now let’s explore storytelling, in particular the art of interviewing. Because behind every fascinating story is a talented interviewer, and those skills transfer from journalism to the corporate world and beyond. If you can get people talking about themselves, there’s no end to what you can learn from them.


To learn more about the art of conducting a great interview, Sidekick spoke with legendary journalist, author, and contributor to the New Yorker, Ken Auletta; Spotify podcast host and storyteller, Lea Palmieri; and former CNN executive editor of international features and current editor of Spotify-owned channels, Neil Curry.

Before you begin an interview, nail down why you’re talking to the person and what the purpose of the interview is. Meaning: What do you want to get out of the conversation?

Once you’ve figured that out, do your research, author of Hollywood Ending Ken Auletta told Sidekick. "Research the subject’s online profiles, read up on any previous interviews they’ve given, and figure out what questions they’ve already answered.


Talk to their colleagues and critics to get a wider understanding of who you’ll be interviewing."

Neil Curry and Leah Palmieri shared similar advice with Sidekick. Curry relies on research to help him come up with new angles on old stories that might unearth new information. Palmieri studies the subject’s Instagram and Twitter posts to get an idea of what’s on the interviewee’s mind, which helps her figure out how to kick off the conversation.


Curry and Auletta both agreed that the key to a good interview is to make it feel conversational and approachable. In Auletta’s experience, the best interviews start with simple questions before diving into more complicated subjects.


“Begin with the softer questions—questions that make people feel like you’re not playing ‘gotcha’ with them,” Auletta told Sidekick. Let people know that you’re there to understand them—not prosecute them—and ask intelligent questions so the subject feels confident, he suggested.

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