On Tuesday, Carl Hiaasen came to Lynn as part of the Dively Frontiers in Globalization Lecture Series. I had the opportunity to interview him in the studio. Last time I mentioned that I was formulating questions to ask him. Well, I sorted my question and put them onto note cards with the Lynn seal on the reverse side.

On Tuesday morning I went to Hiaasen’s lecture in the theater. It was very informative and it helped me to establish which questions I wanted to ask, and which ones I should discard. I was rather nervous leading up to the interview, however, I think it is good to be nervous as it keeps you ‘on your toes’. Hiaasen was very nice and answered all of my questions. I think the most awkward part of an interview is the initial meeting when you’re waiting to start the interview as the camera operators and studio are checking audio etc. I never know what to say and try to start small talk. After I ran out of small talk, I went to plan B…’I'm from South Africa’ – That is always a conversation starter!

The interview ran extremely smoothly! I think as an interviewer, it is important to remember that the audience is watching the interview to hear what the interviewee has to say, not what you as an interviewer think. As an interviewer you are purely a listener, and a question-asker. You have to be both, as without listening… you won’t know what questions to ask. Sometimes I will have a question order set up, and then the interviewee will touch on a topic that relates to one of my upcoming questions, so I’ll skip the order and go straight to the relevant question. It actually happened in Hiaasen’s interview: he touched on the topic of the government and politics, and I had an ending question asking about his view of the upcoming presidential elections, so I changed the order and asked him – ‘Whilst we’re on the topic of the government, what is your view…’
You always have to remember that although you must have a good idea of what the interviewees answer will be to your questions, you will never truly know, and thus it is important to be flexible.

I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped with the interview – from helping me better word questions (at the last minute) to working behind the scenes. An interview wouldn’t be possible without all of you!