Getting past your head and into the “real”.
Part of my process here at Deeper Context is making sure the people I interview are filled in on the scope of our conversation. I’ll give them a sense of the topics I’m planning to cover, right down to the actual questions if they want, though these tend to be jumping off points anyway.
As a result of this pre-conversation prep, my conversation partners tend to have a good sense of what they want to say in their head, so they feel prepared and more relaxed than they would be otherwise.
This part of the conversation is great, often compelling and useful and forms the core of the finished product.
But, then a funny thing happens.
Once people run out of ‘what they were planning to say’, usually about 20 minutes in, stuff gets real.
People get out of their head, out of their comfort zone . Their head can’t help them, so they go into their heart.
That’s where the magic is. That’s where the real is.
It requires more from my partner than maybe they were planning on giving to a “marketing video”.
It can be difficult to be vulnerable in front of someone they don’t know. Some may shut down. Others may thrive.
In either case, most engaging, most resonant, most moving parts of any project tend to come from those points when people run out of information they want to share and start talking from their heart.
And seeing that happen, pushing for those real moments is one of the great joys of my work.
It’s also one of the things that makes Deeper Context stories so valuable for the organizations I partner with.
So…no pressure, future interview subjects!
You’re in good hands.
Just relax and let go.
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