Best way to get your subject to really open up

[Jim Luther Davis]

Hey guys,

So I've done several feature/human interest pieces over the last couple years.

Can definitely see an improvement in my methods from when I started. However, I feel like there's always room to improve and take my work to the next level.

But I've read some features where it seems like the reporter gets the athlete to open up in a way that you would think he would only do with a best friend or family. It's something that makes you wonder, "How the hell did he get him to diverge that?"

What are some tips, tricks or questions you guys have found really helps take your piece to the next level?

Thanks in advance for any help, guys. Always learn a lot.

 

[reformedhack]

There's no really secret or trick to get subjects to open up. The only piece of advice I can give you is to have conversations, not interviews, not interrogations. Ask questions, share stories, and engage with the other person. Don't write everything down. Build trust, even if that means having preliminary conversations without your notebook and recorder before doing the one(s) for your story. Make them all personal transactions, not depositions. Without that personal relationship, any effort to dive deeper — "How did it feel when your mom and soccer coach died in the plane crash?" — just seems superficial.

Also — and I'm going to assume this was the fault of autocorrect — you want them to "divulge" not "diverge." If they diverge, you're not going to get a good interview at all.

 

[JackReacher]

Don't be a ****bag.

 

[ringer]

A ton of patience. And a bit of good timing.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Don't lead with the tough questions. Build to it. Show them you've done your research and know your stuff and then once they're relaxed a bit and don't think you're out to get them, then you ease into the tough questions.

This may sound insane, but when I was in college, we actually listened to Howard Stern a few times and you could see how in control he was of his interviews, and I'm not talking about ones with strippers or porn stars, but he would have political candidates or actors or singers on and would get them to say things that they probably would not have said under normal circumstances because they were relaxed and he didn't go in for the kill immediately. His first interview with Paul McCartney is a perfect example of this.

 

[FileNotFound]

Listen. Let the pauses linger for a second, and wait for the subject to fill in the awkward silences.

 

[Jim Luther Davis]

Lot of good stuff here. Thanks guys.

What about when you're covering an athlete who seems to be really shy or just doesn't like to give long answers? I'm doing it at the prep level, and I know it's always hit or miss where you'll find one player who loves to talk and another who doesn't.

My subject is a sophomore catcher who has been lights out defensively and offensively. But when I talk to him--and it could be because this is on video too--he just gives me these really short answers that aren't all that helpful.

I've found his teammates and coach to give me a lot more information, so I made it a point to reach back out to them. But also was planning on doing an off-camera interview with the catcher and hoping I could get him to speak a little more freely.

P.S. Yes, "divulge" was the word I was looking for haha

 

[Jim Luther Davis]

I've also personally found asking coaches, teammates, friends, parents, etc. of the subject the question of "Can you tell me any story that comes to mind of John Doe that really defines the type of person he is?" has really given me a lot of good stuff that I can work to build my narrative of the piece.

 

[da man]

Has a few ideas.

 

[Batman]

Listen. Let the pauses linger for a second, and wait for the subject to fill in the awkward silences.

This is a simple trick, but it works. People LOVE to talk about themselves, so make sure you don't.
I've had 30-minute interviews where I ask about four questions and the person just fills in the silence. At the end, I'll have 10 pages of a notebook filled up and they'll say, in all seriousness, "I hope I gave you enough."
Yeah, guy, you did.

 

[da man]

This is a simple trick, but it works. People LOVE to talk about themselves, so make sure you don't.
I've had 30-minute interviews where I ask about four questions and the person just fills in the silence. At the end, I'll have 10 pages of a notebook filled up and they'll say, in all seriousness, "I hope I gave you enough."
Yeah, guy, you did.

I've had some of those, too, and they are wonderful.

That does depend on the subject, though. Some people don't really like to talk about themselves and will just sit there during those long pauses. Or they'll say, "Are we finished?"

 

[Batman]

The great thing about the high school level is how laid back it is and how much access you can get. Baseball, especially.
If you're not in a deadline situation where you have to have a laptop in front of you, ask the coach if it's cool for you to sit in the dugout. If it is, do it. You'll not only learn a lot about the game, the players will become more familiar with you and relax a little bit.
Don't be an obnoxious asshole, be polite and respectful -- and never cheer -- and you'll find you can ping some in-game questions off of them about certain plays (what's this guy throwing? Did Johnny Freshman miss a sign? Why is the normal leadoff hitter batting second today?). You don't write that stuff down, but make mental notes and ask later if it becomes important. You'll also hear some dugout chatter and pick up some neat quick-hit story ideas, like the stuffed animal they keep around for good luck or the weird handshake ritual they have before a game.

My first or second year in the business, I asked a coach if I could sit in his dugout because his home field was a death trap. Uncomfortable seats on a hill behind home plate, and no netting to catch foul balls. He let me, and a decade and a half later I've done it for almost every game since for all of our local teams.

 

[Batman]

That does depend on the subject, though. Some people don't really like to talk about themselves and will just sit there during those long pauses. Or they'll say, "Are we finished?"

Very true. That's when you need to talk to coaches, teammates, family members, and anybody else that can give you a picture of the guy. We've all written stories on people like that at one time or another. Hell, some of the best stories I've ever written were about dead people.

 

[da man]

I covered a team once whose coach was a dream. He had no filter, so he said what he was actually thinking most of the time rather than talking in BS coachspeak. I remember once when he walked up to a group of reporters after a practice and I offered a standard small-talk greeting: "How's it going?" He responded with a five-minute State of the Team address.

 

[Batman]

I covered a team once whose coach was a dream. He had no filter, so he said what he was actually thinking most of the time rather than talking in BS coachspeak. I remember once when he walked up to a group of reporters after a practice and I offered a standard small-talk greeting: "How's it going?" He responded with a five-minute State of the Team address.

We had one of those this year on a high school team. I'd ask him a general question, like what went wrong in that inning where Shelbyville scored five runs, and he goes off on a long tangent about his stud pitcher being a dip**** who was shaking off the coach's pitch calls and throwing whatever he wanted, another senior (and two-year starter) who didn't understand the signs or some pretty basic strategy concepts, and a few other players who were just being whiny about playing time or whatever.
It was enlightening, and nice to know he trusted me like that, but I kind of came to dread talking to him postgame because every interview lasted 20 minutes.

You have to be careful in situations like that. In the pros and college, anything goes. With high school coaches, you could cost them their job printing some of that stuff (or at least make your job more difficult when you put it in a story and the coach gets pissed at you). I know "everything is on the record," but at some point you need to recognize when a frustrated guy is just venting about his job.
Knowing what to write and what not to write, or how to ask a follow-up question about the general dysfunction of the team that doesn't necessarily call any one player out, is a useful skill. So is filing that stuff away in the mental file and using it down the road in a more obvious situation.

 

[joe_schmoe]

As you can see, there's no one way. A lot of the suggestions here are good, especially getting them in there element (dugout, etc..) And for most people if you get them away from their teammates its better, because a lot of high school athletes fear their teammates may laugh, or whatever at them during an interview. And sometimes it actually helps to have them there with a good friend when you have one that doesn't like to open up. They may be more willing to talk real to their best friend than to you. Coaches (usually assistant coaches) can give you a good feel for how a player may be in an interview.
Small talk is good, especially if you have done your research on the subject and can talk about a specific game, heck even a teach or the school.
Lastly, if there's anyway at all for you not to make it look like a formal interview than do it. In other words, many kids freak with a microphone or recorder in their face, or someone writing down everything they say. I used to have a recorder I could stick in my shirt pocket and it would pick up our conversation without problem and never be seen. It died about a year ago and I have yet to find one that works as well.
I'm not saying to mislead them. Make sure they know you are a reporter interviewing them, but it's all about psychology

 

[Batman]

I used to have a recorder I could stick in my shirt pocket and it would pick up our conversation without problem and never be seen. It died about a year ago and I have yet to find one that works as well.

Amazon product ASIN B004SO876S
Check this one out. It does a great job both picking up sound and filtering out background noise. The band playing during football postgame has never been a major issue with this recorder in my experience. I think a lot of people in the business use these. The biggest downside is you can't transfer audio files to your computer.
It's also cheap. Looks like about $60 on Amazon, but I think I paid $40 for mine at Best Buy.

 

[joe_schmoe]

Thanks Batman. My old one was a Sony too, so this may be a good replacement.

 

[Rhody31]

Gotta find a way to relate to the subject on the topic at hand.
Did a story on a kid who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 16. My wife is a Type 1, so by introducing her in conversation, he understood that I had an idea of what he was going through.
Had a feature on a kid who weighed 400 pounds as a freshman. All he wanted to do was play football but he was too fat to play. He conditioned himself enough so byt he time he was a senior, he was still obese - 330 - but he was doing better with his weight and it was because he wanted to play football. I threw my weight issues in conversation and it made it easier for him to open up.
Girl lost half a mouth of teeth after getting hit in the face with a field hockey stick. Wrote a feature on her the following year when she returned to the field. Everything I said included me talking about how I couldn't deal with the pain and it loosened her up seeing how amazed I was that she didn't cry like I would have.
Doing an interview is like hitting on a chick at the bar. You just have to find anything they can relate to and go with it. Then the subjects won't see you as a reporter; they'll see you as a person.

 

[DanOregon]

Ditto what Rhody said - you want to connect with the interviewee. Sharing some of you stuff makes it easier for another person to share their own stuff. Also, it's always a good idea to build relationships and talk to people when you you're not looking for a story with a notebook in your hand. Get them used to opening up to you.