What if I Dry Up?

2. I’m Worried About Drying Up

Again, let’s look at this from the interviewer’s point of view.

If you have done your research and prepared your questions/flow of the interview (as described in tip #2 and tip #3) you shouldn’t have any problems with running out of things to ask. If you do, you have probably come to the end of the interview!

Sometimes, though, nerves do make you forget what you wanted to say next which is why it is always useful to have notes in front of you, as well as a pen to jot extra ideas down while you are listening to the interviewee’s replies.

If you are really worried about drying up, have a “rescue” question handy. This is the question you ask when your mind has gone blank. For example, when I was interviewing pop groups or artists (particularly those I didn’t know a lot about because they were very new on the scene) I used to ask very generic questions such as “what’s next for you?” or “where do you go from here?”

Some potential generic back-up questions are:

“What is the biggest misconception others have about [insert niche/business etc]?”

“What question do you get asked the most about [insert niche/business]?”

“If you could offer one piece of advice about this [insert niche/business], what would it be?”

Once you have some experience of interviewing people you will become more adept at handling those moments, but in the meantime don’t panic. As long as the interview is recorded you can always edit out any pregnant pauses, false starts etc. And the interviewee will not think any less of you for it – they will probably have a few stutters and stammers of their own.

Remember, you are not going to be struck down if you make a mistake. Civilisation as we know it will not end because you paused while trying to think of your next question.

Just relax and enjoy the interview.

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