Interviewing kids

[HanSenSE]

Covered a baseball regional for 12-year-olds last night. Was doing fine talking to the winning coach afterwards, until he bought over some of the players to talk. I usually deal with high school age and above kids on the beat, and they are generally fairly savvy when I ask my questions. Different situation last night, with a lot of the "yeah, no, uh huh" type of answers. Was that close to breaking out the "OK, Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga" questions.

Seriously, though, with kid ball upon many of us, how do you phrase questions to get response? This is probably a d_b from somewhere, but I know we could all probably use some help.

 

[zebracoy]

After the yes or no, ask why?

And then ask them if they want candy.

 

[expendable]

Interviewing kids worked for Art Linkletter, but not for me.

 

[BTExpress]

About 30 years ago I was asked to do a feature on kids chewing "Big League Chew" gum when it was introduced as a way to look like a major leaguer, with the gum packaged like tobacco.

Upon completing the assignment, all I can say is that kids do NOT say the darndest things.

 

[MonsterLobster]

I used to have to spend two weeks every summer covering a series of rather large Little League tourneys. I would always try to think of open-ended questions that would make the kids respond with some sort of real answer. But then I'd always just have to revert to, "What do you like most about baseball tournaments like this one?"

 

[copperpot]

Most important is to stay away from questions that they can answer with a yes or no. I just had to interview a 12-year-old and completely lucked out when she gave great answers to all my questions. But I had put a lot of thought into those questions to make sure yes or no wasn't going to cut it for an answer.

Doesn't mean you're not going to get "I don't know" and blank looks, but it should help at least a little.

 

[gravehunter]

I agree. Do NOT ask yes or no questions. Also, from a psychological standpoint, squat or bend down when talking to a kid. Put yourself as close as you can to his eye level. That way he may be less intimidated about answering questions for a "grown-up".
Try to point out something that he did in the game and use that to help bring down whatever barriers he might have up.

 

[playthrough]

I was going to offer squatting/bending down. Great advice.

 

[FleetFeet]

Interviewing kids about 12 years or younger is one of my favorite things to do on the job. They're not nearly as guarded as their taller, older counterparts. Just do your interviews AWAY from the kids' parents especially and away from the coaches if possible.

The secret" Talk on their level and let them know you watched them. They'll like that. "I saw you smiling when you had that game-winning hit. What were you thinking when you ran to first base?"

Try to make it as conversational as possible, so the kid doesn't know he's being interviewed and instead just thinks you're a grown-up interested in his/her game.

 

[mustangj17]

Don't ask yes or no questions. If they answer quickly keep saying "can you elaborate on that"?

 

[Batman]

Just do your interviews AWAY from the kids' parents especially and away from the coaches if possible.

Advice worth heeding, creepy as it seems. Try to do the interview away from teammates, too. The kid is nervous enough as is, and his teammates will often try to mess with him by making faces or cracking stupid 12-year-old jokes. The kid gets sidetracked, often during an answer, and you end up repeating your question 10 times or getting the stammering response.
Sit in the bleachers or dugout with him if you can, that way you get away from everyone and have the eye-level thing going too.

 

[Rhody31]

You know who doesn't pull that ****? 12-year old girls. You ask them one yes or no question and they go on and on and on and on and on.
Kids 10 and under are pretty worthless. So are boys until they hit about 15. Girls are gold. They like to talk to whoever will listen.

 

[Prince of Persia]

Most important is to stay away from questions that they can answer with a yes or no. I just had to interview a 12-year-old and completely lucked out when she gave great answers to all my questions. But I had put a lot of thought into those questions to make sure yes or no wasn't going to cut it for an answer.

Doesn't mean you're not going to get "I don't know" and blank looks, but it should help at least a little.

I think not asking the yes or no questions is the biggest thing.

I wrote a story about five years back about some hot shot 10-year-old who was tearing it up on the racetrack. The cars weren't quite go-karts, some kind of modified version they used for these kind of races. Anyway, the kid was doing so well in local and regional races against older kids, Red Bull racing was ready to sign this kid to a contract when he was old enough.

Taking all that into account, the open-ended questions were easy to ask: How does it feel to be pursued by Red Bull Racing? What's the feeling you get when you beat older kids? How do your friends at school react to what you do? What do you do to get ready for each race?

I remember after the interview his mother told me he doesn't talk much and I looked down at my tape recorder and saw I had about 25 minutes. I laughed and said he did pretty well. Some kids just open up when you ask the right questions.

 

[Smash Williams]

Really depends on the kid. One of the best interviews I've had recently was with an 8 year old girl. The 11 year old girl I talked to later that day (youth sports clinic), on the other hand, was freaked out by me.

Some basic tips -

Always ask follow up questions, and try to get involved in a conversation instead of a true Q&A. If at all possible, let them see what you're writing down or really limit the notes. They get distracted, and if they're old/self-aware enough, they'll start getting self-conscious about what you're writing.

If you can, sit down with them. That puts the two of you on a more level playing field, and the kid will like it. Ask them to show you something if they're freezing up, or let them fidget with a bat or ball or whatever.

In general, kids are pretty literal, and a lot of them will answer with a single sentence instead of the 3-4 sentence thought. Some will also think you're looking for a "right" answer like their teacher would, which leads to a lot of the "uhhh" ing. That's why it's important to get them in a conversation and not a strict Q&A.

A great thing to do with kids is to watch and listen very closely for what they say to each other or their coach and, within reason, quote that.

 

[crusoes]

You know who doesn't pull that ****? 12-year old girls. You ask them one yes or no question and they go on and on and on and on and on.
Kids 10 and under are pretty worthless. So are boys until they hit about 15. Girls are gold. They like to talk to whoever will listen.

Most girls. I've run into my share of teenage Sphinxettes.

 

[HanSenSE]

Good advice, all. I've had a couple of interviews hijacked by parents, even grandparents. I've usually found creative ways to politely know they're butting in.

 

[kingcreole]

Did a story on a 12-year-old baseball team that won one of those "national" tournaments a few years ago. Its best player was a girl. She was a helluva an interview, and a couple of her teammates were too.

One kid said, "We don't care if you're a boy, a girl or an alien. If you can play baseball, you can play for us."

Loved it. Some kids are better interviews than the college kids I deal with.

As for the original question, I'll have a list of about five kids I may want to interview. I'll ask the coach which one talks the most and never shuts up.

 

[Mediator]

I agree that for a Little League tournament, getting the right quote is a numbers game. It's not like you have to get A Rod, so talk to a few one on one, find the best talker and there is your lead.

A lot of good advice on this thread, and most of it applies to interviewing the grownups as well, except for the bending down part. That would be weird.

 

[expendable]

My best success has come when interviewing them in groups. No more than two or three, but they tend to open up more when with their teammates. I've found they like to talk about their teammates' performances more than their own.

 

[PBOWKER]

some great advice on this thread!

The most important, though, is get them into a conversation. This works with ALL ages, and a conversational tone can lead to the good quote that you're looking for.

When dealing with the younger kids, interviewing them in groups of two or three (especially after winning one of these summer league championships) can be particularly effective. If little Johnny won't say anything, then his loudmouth friend, Joey, standing next him, will say something. Or at least, he'll give a gesture to Johnny as if to say, "Speak up, dude!" If you're one-on-one with a quiet 12-year-old, there's no escape...