By Karl Augustine
Are all interviews conducted equally?
Not a chance.
There’s interviews that work and add value and those that just flat out don’t flow well and confuse the listener which add no value the the USP.
For someone who has never conducted an interview before in the online world, knowing what to include in the interview and deciphering what the interview should cover, can be a challenge. In order to add value to the product offering, the content of an interview should be fairly in-depth and detailed and should focus on one portion of the overall product offering.
Example: If you sell a book about successfully selling gift baskets online, an interview with a professional drop shipper about successfully negotiating “win-win” partnerships with drop shippers would be useful to the readers of your eBook.
So what is the most effective structure for an interview?
The answer to this question will depend on the product involved and the 2 people who are participating. There needs to be a certain flow to the interview and it needs to be conversational rather than “staged”…i.e., it cannot seem rehearsed. The interview should be conversational but informative and detailed, which can be quite a challenge since people just generally tend to get side tracked with anecdotes and non-related experiences to the topic. However, a certain portion of the interview should be lighthearted to keep it fun. Each participant should be able to be themselves and let their personality show through while delivering solid and informative content in the meantime.
A key part of defining an effective structure of an interview is understanding and establishing the chemistry between the 2 participants and planning accordingly before the interview takes place. If you are going to do an interview, call the interviewee and get to know them on a personal and business level just enough to have a comfortable feeling about doing the interview. Then, send the interviewee an outline of what you’d like to cover and call him/her again to make sure he/she is comfortable with the general outline for the conversation. This will make for a more free flowing conversation, and you will still be able to make the interview informative without sounding “preachy” or staged.
A general outline to use as a guide for the structure for an online interview:
1. General introductions - Most people who have credibility will want some sort of introduction in the beginning of the interview, this is only natural. In addition, you want your audience to know who you are talking to and why they should listen to what the interviewee has to say.
2. Why the interview is taking place - This can be informative in itself and can also promote the interviewee if they have a certain niche that you are exploring in the interview. The goal here is to make sure the listener understands the value of the information that will be covered.
3. The information of value - This is the meat of the conversation. It should include detailed questions and answers that illuminate the “why’s” and “how to’s” of the topic being presented.
4. Q and A - This is the section where the interviewer puts him/herself in place of the listener and asks the interviewee questions that a listener would most likely ask if he/she were in on the call with them. This can be a deeply effective portion of the interview because it gives the interviewee a chance to re-cap what might have been discussed and allows for further expansion on key points that were covered in the bulk of the interview itself.
5. Conclusion - This last section can include final words of wisdom, a plan of action for the listener, and/or one last promotional plug for the interviewee. If the interview flowed smoothly, this piece will be natural and “non-sales like”. The listener will most likely be very interested in what the interviewee has to offer in the way of a USP and will be a potential customer of the interviewer and interviewee if they aren’t already.
An online interview can be an extraordinarily useful tool for increasing credibility, adding exclusivity to a USP, and can generate profits for all parties involved.
Be humble, work smart, keep it simple.
Karl Augustine
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