I love NPR.  Every now an again I get sick of the same trash on the radio and turn on my local public station for some good talk.  Usually, they have a really relevant segment and Monday was no different.  This time, they were talking about interview techniques.  Ah, a much beloved topic for me.

They spoke with interview guru John Sawatsky, who is a master question-asker, professor, and investigative journalist.  He's currently working with ESPN to help them ask better questions and thus be better interviewers.  Here are his "rules".

Don't ask yes-or-no questions, keep questions short and avoid charged words, which can distract people.

Short, but sweet.  Here's the thing though, I don't think that this advice is new.  In fact, I've harped on this more times than I care to disclose.  You just can't find great information from someone if you do all the talking, put words in their mouths and ask closed questions. 

Nonetheless, I thought that it was a really great conversation and folks can learn a lot.  Especially since he disses the likes of Barbara Walters, Mike Wallace and Larry King who I think are some of the most revered, but not the best interviewers in journalism.  But you can listen to it for yourself and decide here: The Art of the Interview, ESPN-Style.

Updated comment:  I forgot to mention that there was the implication that this was such a fantastic method of interviewing that one day soon it would permeate all aspects of our lives including the workplace, thus the relevance to recruiting ;-)