2. The Assignment, Part 2
You are to interview someone else about their journey, someone
with at least 10 years of life experience on you.
You will ask them to reflect on one or two major events in their
life, how they handled them and what they discovered about
themselves and the world.
In other words, you are uncovering another person’s heroic
journey. Why?
3. The Assignment, Part 2
• Why?
• To discover whether the hero’s journey framework truly is universal (if so, using
this framework can give you incredible insight into others you encounter in
organizations, because you will understand their trials and tribulations more
deeply).
• Interviewing a professional will give your practice talking to others
(interpersonal skills) and help you take first steps toward networking
• Writing the interview will give you writing practice, which is the only way to get
better.
• Finally, it will help you identify the “rhetorical features” of one more powerful
form of communication, honing your ability to analyze communication at the
microlevel so that you can master other forms of communication on your own.
4. The Assignment, Part 2
Step 1. Plan for the interview
• “Speak from your heart and be sincere. Depending on your
relationship, be clear you are not here to judge, but to learn.
Convey that you respect and are interested in their experience,
that you value what they might share, and their life’s
perspective.”
• Bring a cell phone for recording the interview (experiment
beforehand to be sure you know how to record yourself) and for
taking a picture of the interviewee
5. The Assignment, Part 2
Step 2. Learn a little about how to conduct an interview (watch
this video)
• Opening questions should be simple
• Questions should be clear and open-ended
• Build your next questions from your subject’s answers
• Don’t feed the interviewee answers to the questions
• Always wait for the person to stop talking
6. The Assignment, Part 2
Additional Tip to “unlock” a person’s story:
• Don’t ask people questions you already know the answer to
• Get their feelings and unique perspectives on the experiences
• Remember: an interview is NOT a conversation
• If a question doesn’t work, ask another (for example, when you’d like more
detail or the answer is vague)
• Know when to let a question or approach go and move onto something else
7. The Assignment, Part 2
Examples of strong questions to elicit rich responses:
• What was a powerful memory from that time?
• What did you feel when….?
• What did you learn….? What was important?
• How did you change? How did your group change?
• Who helped you? Who did you lean on at that time?
8. The Assignment, Part 2
Examples of strong questions to elicit rich responses:
• What was a powerful memory from that time?
• What did you feel when….?
• What did you learn….? What was important?
• How did you change? How did your group change?
• Who helped you? Who did you lean on at that time?
9. The Assignment, Part 2
Step 3. Plan 5-7 broad questions to ask the interviewee about
their personal journey, and follow them where they take you in
the interview.
10. The Assignment, Part 2
Step 3. Plan 5-7 broad questions to ask the interviewee about
their personal journey, and follow them where they take you in
the interview.
Do NOT mention the idea of the “hero’s journey,” as this may
make them feel pressured, because it’s often hard for “ordinary”
people to see themselves as heroes in their own journeys.
Bring a print-out of your questions with you, as well as a
recording device.
11. The Assignment, Part 2
Potential Start:
“I’m taking a class on business communication and the professor
has asked us to interview someone one or two experiences that
changed them as a person or helped you learn something you
didn’t know before, so that I can understand how people grow
and change. Can you think of a particular event in your career
that changed you or helped you learn something you didn’t
know before?”
12. The Assignment, Part 2
If they have a mental block, help them. E.g. “For example, what
was the most demanding job you had in your career?” OR: “What is
the hardest thing about being a professor/data analyst/CEO/sales
rep etc.”? Then help them hone in on a specific event in the
past. E.g. “Do you remember a particularly hard day or a
particularly difficult conversation you had?”
13. The Assignment, Part 2
Ask questions that pinpoint the various stages of the hero’s
journey, but in ordinary language. In other words, instead of
saying, “Is that when you experienced the ‘refusal of the call’ stage
in your journey,” you could ask, “Were you reluctant to go talk to
your boss?” or “Did you want to switch jobs?” etc.
14. The Assignment, Part 2
• Towards the end of the interview, ask these questions about
how the event impacted them:
• What was your reward for persevering? Was there a long road back to the
feeling of normalcy or balance in your life [i.e. the ordinary world stage]?
• Was there also a sense of something permanently lost or left behind?
What was ultimate cost you paid for taking this on?
• And how do you feel it changed you fundamentally? What impact did it
ultimately have on who you are now?
• (If they still in the midst of their ordeal, ask them where they think they
will go next. What do they think the next stages entail? What do they think
they will gain, etc.?)
15. The Assignment, Part 2
Take a picture of the interviewee or ask them to send a picture—
try to get them doing something interesting, not just a headshot.
Perhaps a hobby? Making a silly face? Striking a posture that makes
you ask yourself, “What is that person thinking/doing?”
16. Preparing the Interview Report
• Step 4. Write up the interview (read this article on how to write
up the interview). (Yes, do include a picture of the person you
interview.)
• Structure: The order in which you publish the picture,
questions, and answers.
• Suggested structure:
17. Preparing the Interview Report
Intro:
• Picture
• Engaging hook
• Background on hero’s journey concept and the interviewee
• Forecast of the rest of the write-up
18. Preparing the Interview Report
Body:
• 3-5 subheadings/themes
• Your questions and their answers broken out e.g. Laural: “When
did you know you had to leave?” Mrs. Baker: “I just woke up one
morning and that was that!”
• Exposition between the sections (discussion that explains
what’s going on, especially description of the person and
surroundings e.g. “John shifted in his chair and looked
uncomfortable, but then he continued to talk about the way
that….”
19. Preparing the Interview Report
Conclusion:
• Create a strong sense of closure by speculating about the
hero’s journey framework and sharing what you learned
from the interview experience
• Give a sense of perspective learned from the interview
20. Preparing the Interview Report
Process:
Here you are editing and sifting through the interviewees’
responses to find the gems. Many writers feel the need to do this in a
logical sequence, but that makes for a boring interview! To have the
strongest interview possible, you need to start and end strong. Pick
the most provocative questions and answers to be featured at the
beginning and at the end. From there, let your emotions guide you.
Do you feel it would be more appealing to let the reader know your
famous person wears white underwear towards the middle of the
interview? Maybe you want to leave it as the closing question. Just
avoid making the write-up too linear and logical.
21. Preparing the Interview Report
Also, make sure you remember your purpose: to
demonstrate and share what you’re learning from this person
about how certain experiences have changed them
fundamentally, so communicate what you learned, thought
and felt over the course of the interview— And end by
reflecting on how it contributed to your own self-knowledge.
22. Preparing the Interview Report
Step 5.
Proof and upload to BB. Try to get one person you trust to
read it, provide feedback and ask you questions about your
experience.
More than 4 issues on a page results in the assignment
being docked half a grade and sent back to you for revision
due in 48 hours.
