What Makes Interviewee Interesting?
Lesson 4 from: FAST CLASS: Power Your Podcast with StorytellingAlex Blumberg
What Makes Interviewee Interesting?
Lesson 4 from: FAST CLASS: Power Your Podcast with StorytellingAlex Blumberg
Lessons
Why Audio is Perfect for Storytelling
17:13 2The Art off the Interview
16:49 3The Nuts & Bolts of Interviewing
13:44 4What Makes Interviewee Interesting?
05:57 5The Elements of Story
24:38 6Putting the Story Elements Together
18:32 7The Power of the Story
09:29 8The Power of the Story Formula
14:22Lesson Info
What Makes Interviewee Interesting?
you know, I promised math. I promised this formula. Uh, so I want to talk about that formula. And, um and this, I think, is a helpful concept to have in your mind at the beginning of any sort of storytelling endeavor. And at the beginning of any any interview endeavor Like, which is sort of like, what? What is the What is the very, very thumbnail of the story that I'm telling? And this came up. We're gonna have more on this formula in the next session. Uh, but but I'm just gonna lay it out for you right now and that it's a very simple thing. I'm doing a story about X, and it's interesting because of why, uh and so I'm doing a story about so you choose the X and you choose the why. And if I make people, I often do this myself before I go out. If I can put it in this simple construction, and I actually arrive at an interesting why I know, I know I'm in in the right direction, So let me give you an example. This is something that happened. Laughter. I'm beginning, especially public radio.
People are sort of driven by and you know, the urge to sort of, like, talk about like, issues in society. So here's a big one. I'm doing a story about homelessness. Um, and this is just might sound a little harsh. I'm not being harsh, but this is one of the issues that we all face. You know, a lot of us are talking about sort of social justice types of things and nonprofits and getting our attention out for for for these very, very worthy causes, there's just because it's where they cause does not mean it's interesting to people. And that is the sad fact of our lives. Right? And, uh, and so um and so that's where this formula could be very, very helpful. So I'm doing a story about homelessness, and it's interesting because, let's see, this is something that, like people say off the time, um, many homeless people are mentally ill, so out of a show of hands. That's the why many homeless people are mentally ill. Is that interesting? Who thinks that's an interesting part? Sort of. Is it surprising? Let me ask this question. Which are you surprised by that fact that many homeless people are mentally ill? No. So so you're up against it with the story. If that's your ark, I'm doing a story about homelessness, and it's interesting because many homeless are mentally ill. That is not your is going. You need You come up with something you need to solve for a different Why, uh, you need to come up with something else. Um, and this is not to say that you shouldn't do stories about homelessness. And this is not to say that you shouldn't do stories about where the causes. But is this simply to say that there are there is known information. There are no narratives that we're familiar with. Um, And, uh, if you're doing a story about some and often worthy causes are intractable problems that we know a lot about, right? We've heard it. We heard the first story where it was revealed that many homeless and mentally ill and we were shocked. And then we had another one, and then we had another one. Then we heard another one. It's like prison 16 15 years, 20 years, 25 years where we now know that. And so you're so so This is the this is the problem. Is that you the more worthy the cause in many cases cases, the more creative you have to be about giving it, you know, taking it in fresh direction or finding something new about it, or figure out a different approach to doing it. So you know what would be? You know, I'm doing a story about, like just doing a story about homelessness, and it's interesting because, uh oh, and it's interesting because there's a gene for homelessness. Sure, that's sort of it right. How those things. That's interesting. Would that be an interesting sort of story? Yeah, it's not true. Uh, but But if that was your angled, and that would be sort of something else, what's another possibly more, more interesting? Ex Im drinks about homelessness, and it's interesting because turns out there's a simple solution to homelessness. Where about that one? Does that sound like what do you think? Would that be? OK, Who thinks that's an interesting Why, Yeah, right. More or less like something that's slightly unexpected, like there's this intractable problem. It turns out there's a simple solution that would actually might be true, actually, Um oh, are I'm doing a story about homelessness, and it's interesting because, ah, the hardest parts of being homeless are things that you've never thought off. Is that interesting? Yeah, that's interesting, right? Like, and that's what I'm talking about. Like something it's in. Many like that could be the same. Why as the the boring why we had before. It's just phrased in a different way, right? Because, you know, it could be that when you're mentally ill and you're on the streets, there's this thing that happens that is like something that you would have thought up and then all the sudden you've taken the story that I was hurt and you turn it into a story that everybody has not heard. But you're telling the same story. So that's this. So that's what we're trying to do is just find the interesting angle. Um, and what do you have that frame going forward? That's not the whole story, that the work is still only just begun, but like if you don't have a friend, if you have a boring frame going in or you have an expected frame going into your story going into your interview going into whatever, um you're gonna be up against it from the beginning, you know? And you're gonna be battling yourself essentially. So if you can come up so before you even start to do your story before you even find out, you start to do your interview before you do your celebrity interview. Before you sort of, you know, our pitching, the services of this, You know of this nonprofit in this field, if you have like, something about that is like, slightly if you have this laid out in your mind, I want to tell you about this. This client that I work with, they do, you know, they solve. You know this off malaria in Tanzania. And they're interesting because X or why, sorry. And they're interesting, because why on if you have a good, why that's going to get you in the door right away? So that's like one of the things that I'm trying to that that I dio
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