I was thinking about John Ellement's lecture last Thursday--splendiferous. The role playing was helpful and light-hearted--he used empathy--"seeing the fire must have been scary," sympathy, humor to get his interviewee to feel comfortable with talking to him.
In child welfare, social workers often have to ask intimate questions. A few things I've learned over time? Just making small talk for the first few minutes, asking about successes in an interviewees life, mirroring helps. Body language can impact in a negative way--I used to cross my legs away from the person I was talking to, and eventually realized that was somewhat off-putting--distancing myself. And sometimes body language is a natural response to certain people and situations. I wasn't always successful of course.
I think I'll get better in regard to newspaper reporting. There's a degree of distrust among the public as studies suggested from class. I do believe people want to tell their story; explaining what they saw, what they believe happened--particularly if trauma is involved, e.g. their own or others. The speakers and readings have opened up new approaches for me.
I looked for an article on Carl Rogers I'd read awhile ago. I admired his approach to therapy when I was working on my MSE in Guidance and Counseling. I do think these techniques will help anyone who is interviewing with just about all interviewees.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/201101/6-amazing-things-carl-rogers-gave-us
Diane-
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comments on body language. In addition, I also use small talk to get the interview going. It seems that I can get better information by being less formal in the interview.
Thanks for posting.
Oh Thanks, Charles. I interviewed all day today. Didn't mean to convey inaccurate information regarding the use of photographs on Facebook in regard to seeking permission. I think Facebook has a policy. I require a request to share our covers--they're copyright protected and posted on Facebook once in awhile by authors. An attorney that helps Grey Sparrow occasionally, said anything posted on a public forum is still dicey in terms of sharing without permission, unless it's noted the photograph is in the public domain or treated in a certain way. ABC has sued for copyright infringement regarding the use of their photographs without permission--when in doubt, if you don't have a cadre of attorneys, I would recommend securing permission. That said, we pick up quite a few from clip art and Wikipedia which usually has a note attached, the photograph is not under copyright. The Huffington Post may have different policies from the Boston Globe and it is also treated differently in terms of news presentation. Love em both. Best, ds
ReplyDelete