Training 2017 Conference: The art and science of interviewing

Frost and Nixon Interview - pophistorydig.com

"Don't conduct an interview, have a conversation. One of the biggest mistake people make in the interview setting is to conduct it like it appears in a magazine (question and answer). Don't make that mistake. Forget about the questions and just have a comfortable conversation. Keyword: comfortable." - Six Pixels of Separation

Journalists study hard to become good interviewers. Sure, it comes natural to some, but even the most prodigious journalists have volumes of tapes to review that show wonderful examples of how to get strangers to open up and tell all.

Instructional designers get neither the training nor the footage, yet the work we do is a close cousin to journalism. Perhaps it's time to take a page from their book and learn how to become a professional interviewer - even though you are already expected to be one. .

In January 2017, at the Training 2017 Conference & Expo in San Diego, I'll be speaking about using interview strategies culled from the world of journalism and nonfiction writing. But instead of using those techniques with political figures and criminals, we'll use them to get best practices out of Frank in accounting (who may or may not be a criminal). 

My session is described below:

​Strategies for Interviewing SMEs and Stakeholders
​If you write training, you build stories out of facts—and everything you write is a story whether you’re writing a scenario where Matt needs to use his new supervisory skills or you’re explaining how a specific keystroke combination will submit data—it’s all a story. And like all nonfiction writers, our work depends on getting the information we need from people. Learn how to do just that—how to use the same interview strategies that writers and journalists use to get information out of strangers. Asking the right questions is only part of it. It’s mostly about strategically building an intimate relationship in a matter of minutes. You’ll learn and practice strategies that quickly build rapport and establish trust so that SMEs will share information with you, despite their own feelings of vulnerability and discomfort.

The conference brochure is on their website: ​http://www.trainingconference.com/2017/pdf/T17Brochure.pdf

.I'll see you there. My session is at 8am on the first day. Yikes, that's early!