interviews
Listening to understand
The ability to come up with strategic questions and accurately identify the need to further explore are important traits for any investigative interviewer.
Another trait that is often overlooked and loses focus is the ability to be a good listener and apply active listening skills. There’s a quote I keep next to me in my office that comes from ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ and that is, “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intent to reply.”
Take a moment and think about the value of having good, active listening skills during the interview process.
Listen to the words used by your subject. Did they answer the question? Are they talking off subject? Are they projecting facts? Judgements? Assumptions? Biases?
Applying active listening skills helps put you in a position to better determine the need for further exploration and assists in developing effective follow-up questions. Practice your listening skills by listening to a podcast or interview and identify if you’re listening to understand. When you take the time to listen to understand, then you can improve your interviewing skills and the amount of actionable information you obtain from your subject.
Wicklander-Zulawski Europe
