To tell stronger stories, let the subject choose the setting

This is one of 10 essays I offer as we close 2021 that I hope will help broadcast journalists tell stronger stories in the year ahead. 

When I teach broadcast journalists about interviewing, I often ask somebody in the audience where they go to feel like their most genuine self. By that, I mean if I really wanted to get to know you, where should we go to talk?

Thing people say include “my living room, my bedroom, my kitchen, my barn surrounded by the smell of horses, out on my boat, in my garden.”

I once interviewed a truck driver about rising fuel prices while standing in a parking lot. He was stiff and emotionless. I followed him into his rig. Once he climbed behind the wheel, he became confident and funny. I realized that there, behind the wheel, he was the CEO, he was in charge, he was in the office. The setting made all the difference.

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