What Makes a Good Interview
A good interview is determined by the person giving the interview. The story will not be good if the storyteller is not asking the write questions and trying to understand their interviewee on a deeper level. The best interviews are the ones that continue to build and attain depth as the questions continue, and outsiders gain a deeper understanding of the person telling their stories.
An interview should not only be able to tell a story that needs to be heard, but it should be supported by emotional context and make outsiders feel for the interviewee. Even when interviewing someone who has committed a crime or someone who is seen as a “villian” in today’s culture, it is important that the interview reflects the interviewee and that the interviewer asks questions not to shut down the interviewee, but to open up conversation. By doing this, the interview itself will have depth and emotion that draws its audience towards the interviewee, whether that be for better or for worse.
Martin Bashir interviewd Princess Diana in 1995, and Bashir asked phenomenal questions which led to the Princess’s confessional interview. This is a great example because Princess Diana would’ve never shared this information if Bashir didn’t use his ability to make her feel comfortable and safe, which ultimately led to share more information with him than with any other interviewer. This interview did not lack much, for it contained information that the world was on the edge of their seats to discover.
In the explosive interview, Princess Dianna openly talked about her mental health, self harm, her husband’s affair as well as her own, and gave insight to life with the Royal Family. This interview became so popular because not only did Princess Diana expose the Royal Family’s darkest secrets, she also openly talked about her struggles. This interview will go down in history, as the information revealed in it stands the test of time and people still go back to this interview today to unravel truths from the secret life of Princess Diana.
