With Mother’s Day around the corner, I’m reminded of learning the basics of interviewing from my Mom. She perfected what I came to term the where-what-who method of questioning:
Where you were last night?
What did you do?
Who were you with?
Fast forwarding to today, I’ve conducted well over 500 interviews. I love the discovery process, one of my favorite parts of the job. The probing and cajoling of a source to surface the good stuff always delivers a sense of achievement.
In honor of the big day, I’m dusting off an interview that makes my top-five list. But this particular interview did not involve a client. Instead, it’s my Mom occupying the hot seat (minus the single light bulb dangling from above).
I decided to put my Mom’s understanding of PR to the test a few years ago when I parachuted into Tucson for a visit. With my trusty videographer, my brother Jerry, and an iPhone, I interviewed my Mom.
Ever the consummate professional, I put nepotism to the side and peppered her with tough questions. At times she tried to dodge them, but I was relentless in extracting the truth.
Our budget didn’t allow for a sound engineer, so you’ll likely need to dial up the volume on your device.
Take a look.
Since starting my blog I’ve crafted over 1,000 posts. I think my Mom has read all of them. By her way of thinking, the blog is an extension of my youth: “You always liked telling stories.”
I’m thinking that’s not a compliment.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.