Guest Speaker: Ted Spiker

November 9, 2009

Professor Ted Spiker stood at the head of the class with a carefully wrapped parcel. "A magazine cover is like wrapping paper." He carefully placed the package on the desk for the entire class to see as he began his lecture on 'Sneaky Interviewing Tactics for Great Storytelling". The goals of the interview are: gaining colorful, revealing information that gives insight into the character of the person in question. He lets you in on what this colorful information is: writing suggesting action, description, dialogue, anecdotes, emotion, things that make the story feel like real life. He then cites the basics to interviewing: being prepared, having one's tools ready, and getting ready to have a conversation, not an interview. Spiker listed ten tips to remember when conducting interviews. First, get in the game. In other words, an interview doesn't always have to be in an office setting. It's always best to observe them in their natural environment. Second, know the hot questions, or the questions that will inctie the most emotion. Third, listen and follow up. Fourth, be the bad cop in what you ask, and the good cop in how you ask it. The goal is to get knee deep in information on yor person, but not to make that person uncomfortable in doing so. Fifth, be a drummer. Be aware of everything around you and be able to multi-task. Sixth, keep your mouth shut. During uncomfortable silences, don't feel obligated to speak. Give that duty to the person you are interviewing, as that's often a way to get even more information thant the person was originally willing to give. Seventh, thank your english literature teacher for teaching you such things as personification and foreshadowing, because all are excellent tools in creating incredible stories. Eighth, always go on a second date. An interview doesn't have to be a one-time event. Ninth, think like a fighter. Distract your subject with soft jab questions, then follow it with powerful, tough questions. Tenth, leave your audience shocked and compelled. By the end of the lecture, Spiker took questions from the audience, one of which asked about the parcel that sat quaintly on the edge of the podium. "What's inside the box?" the girl asked. He threw it to her; and after several agitating minutes of trying to figure out how to open the package, she discovered that inside that box was a twenty dollar bill. Always listen and follow up, you might profit from it in the end.