Interview ping pong
As a journalist, I’ve interviewed hundreds of professionals in my career, and I’ve often had to find ways round this common problem.
Image by Ellen Quinn on Unsplash
I remember once, at school, our class was challenged to speak for a full minute about the inside of a ping pong ball. I was utterly stumped at the time, but now, after a few decades of reflection, I could perhaps conjure a sci-fi fantasy about a universe existing in that tiny space or scrape together the little I know about Boyle’s Law. Whatever’s in there, it’s far from nothing.
And, as a journalist who’s made a living from talking to professionals about their jobs and their businesses, I’ve often encountered a similar blind spot amongst those I’m hoping to interview. In the days when you could pick up a phone and talk to a complete stranger (the “good old days” depending on your point of view), the mere name of the publication you were writing for would elicit one of two responses.
You might unlock a confessional outpouring of ideas, offering a glorious picture of the challenges and opportunities faced by that individual, business or industry in the coming months – the absolute grist to the journalist’s mill. Or you might get a gruff, “Well, I just do the job, what else is there to say?”
I don’t blame people for putting up their defences when some nosey parker calls them out of the blue and, once I’ve explained that I’m hoping to serve the public interest by telling a fantastic story, they usually warm to the idea. But sometimes I still draw a blank. It genuinely doesn’t occur to my prospective interviewee that they’ve done anything special or worth writing about.
In all but the most obstinate it’s been possible to win them round, usually by focusing on the specifics and teasing out a few key facts. “What was the weather like that day?... So you had to battle through ice and snow to get there?” As the picture emerges, detail by detail, it dawns on them that they’ve achieved something pretty special and have a great tale to tell.
From the road sweeper to the CEO, I don’t think there’s a professional person on earth for whom this isn’t true. And, while we’re assaulted by news in the mainstream and social media about corruption, venality and incompetence, I believe remarkable stories also spring from everyday experiences which don’t necessarily involve the extremes of human behaviour… stories of ingenuity, awareness, teamwork, quick thinking and inner strength in the face of challenge and adversity.
For the many professionals out there who think their life story is about as interesting as the inside of a ping pong ball, why not try to see it through an outsider’s eyes and have another think?
© Mike Gartside
