--Originally published at #iTec Blog
Today I had the chance to chat with a Syrian refugee and ask him some questions about his journey to Europe and the situation in Syria. The interview was quite personal and it even lead to some tears. Thus, my interviewee asked me to blur out his voice and face. However for the sake of saving time and energy, I decided to write and article about my experience as an interviewer and what have I learned.
- Firstly, I learned that empathy is the key to interviewing people. If your interviewee notices that you care and you relate to his answer you have a bigger chance at getting the most sincere answer out of your subject.
- Let the interviewer answer personal questions, and let him know that it is OK not to answer some questions. Forcing questions on the subject might make the whole interview feel awkward and might lead to lest honesty on the subject’s side.
- Try and be more analytical and critical of his answers. Connect the dots between two different answers in order to make the story appealing.
These are some practical things I learned about interviewing. However I believe the most important thing I learned in this interview is how different humans are. How on his way to Europe my friend met people that are helpful, friendly, hostile, bad, good, caring, careless…
