open questions - the sign of a good interview

I watched the Fiona Bruce interview with Price Philip.  There's no doubt that he wasn't particularly keen to be interviewed - he said as much - and like many people from his generation, he wasn't keen to dwell on his internal thoughts and feelings.

His reticence wasn't always so apparent, according to other footage in the programme; he can be seen presenting a TV programme on travel and different cultures, inviting the BBC in to film some intimate moments with his family. He appeared to believe that what was shown on the surface, was accepted as truthful.  And didn't think it needed further explanation.

So I can't have been the only person who cringed at a complete lack of rapport between Fiona Bruce and Prince Philip as she assumed more and more in her interviewing approach and left less and less space for true dialogue.  Armed with research, she seemed to go into the interview looking to prove a number of pre-determined hypotheses - he was unhappy when he couldn't continue his naval career, he felt like a spare part when Princess Elizabeth became Queen.

Quite rightly, in my view, the Prince looked rather offended at this presumption and began to answer the questions Fiona Bruce asked - just the questions she asked.  Which, given that she asked mostly closed questions, made for a very uncomfortable interview.  Added to this was an astounding lack of awareness of her interviewee - surely if someone declares that they didn't want to do an interview, don't you believe them? And then tread more delicately, antennae on the alert, building trust and developing some kind of relationship to draw them out? 

None of this appeared to strike Ms Bruce, who seemed to panic slightly, filling in more and more of the dead silence.  It's not that I envy her the job - a reluctant Royal famed for speaking his mind would hardly be considered an easy interview.

But she hardly helped herself, presenting "facts" and then simply asking for comments on them.  I looked up the concept of an open question on Google.  It said to use open questions:


"to develop a conversation and open up someone who is rather quiet."

I think the key part is about developing a conversation - that, and being more attuned to what makes someone comfortable enough with you to open up. While it might be considered a bit of an art, surely an experienced TV interviewer should have it?