By / Karen Girl
Around 6-7 years ago during my master's program, I had to participate in a news competition and was referred to interview several cases through friends and mentors. Among them was a case that a professor particularly praised, but she wasn't able to share her own feelings and thoughts—she only spoke about things "others think this way too."
After interviewing for about an hour, I completely couldn't understand her thoughts and perspectives, and didn't get any usable material. So I told her right in front of her, "You didn't share your own story at all," "anyone could say those things you mentioned." Though I felt I was being harsh, I was also arrogantly convinced that the problem was with her.
Until last week, another interviewee, also recommended by a government agency, sat down and started telling me many disconnected, illogical stories. I had to confirm the connections between each story one by one, and even after confirming, I still didn't understand the significance of these stories. But I couldn't let her continue this chaotic way, so I kept circling around and decided to change my approach. I asked her about things she had done before.
Me: You mentioned earlier that you started making documentaries in high school—why did you start making documentaries? (This question had nothing to do with the interview topic)
Her: Because I wanted to document fragments of life, and through documentaries I could leave behind fragments that move people, and make these fragments meaningful and influence others.
Me: So for the fragments you want to preserve, do you have any standards?
Her: Just fragments that move people, fragments that resonate with life.
At this moment I just looked at her without speaking, waiting for her to be willing to tell her own story. Sure enough, she started mentioning why a certain father-daughter relationship improvement from her earlier rambling stories had left a deep impression.
The reason was that her own parents were divorced, her father has Asperger's syndrome and has interpersonal difficulties, and was even issued a domestic violence restraining order by the police preventing him from contacting them. That's why she was particularly moved by the family relationship improvement story mentioned earlier, because she really wanted to know whether her current deliberate contact with her father would be rewarded someday in the future, or end in disappointment.
She also mentioned that her older brother is different from her—he hates their father to death. But she respects everyone's choices and won't criticize or think there's anything wrong with her brother's choice. This is also why she can chat with so many people while executing her project—because she doesn't bring judgment to the table, and all of these things relate to her documentary work.
After asking the key questions, the interview became very smooth, and I finally began to feel that the person in front of me had a genuine, warm story.
After ending the interview, I reflected back on the mistake I made in my master's program. It was absolutely not that the interviewee was bad, but rather how the interviewer, through pre-interview research and understanding of the interviewee's life, attempts different questions in a short time to stir their reflections on life and lower their guard, so as to hear more profound stories.
I used to struggle with street interviews, probably because I was stuck in a questioning approach that was too distant, unable to make people let their guard down, and both parties even had their pride. After this profound questioning experience, I deeply realized that questioning skills are truly crucial and require far more patience and understanding.
【About the Author】
Karen Girl / Hua Yunxi
SET News Program Group Reporter / Anchor
Former TVBS News Text Reporter, ETtoday Community Editor
Columnist for Fresh Time Books, ETtoday, and T Tantan
