Getting a story: What questions to ask

Interviewing is an art.

Just listen to Ira, Terry, Brian and other storytellers and journalists who tell stories for a living.

Fundraisers also tell stories for a living. But we sometimes stumble on what questions to ask.

I’m leading a storytelling training in DC today and I put together this list of questions that follows the arc of essential storytelling – Character, desire and conflict.

Use these in your next interview with a program staffer or a beneficiary and see how/if they help make your stories come alive.

Introductions

(1) Say a little about how you’ll use the story and about how long the interview will take.
(2) Tell the subject a little about yourself. Your name, your job, and some interest fact if that feels like it could build rapport: (I’m a mom. I live in DC. I love rumba music…)

Warm up questions

(1) You can make the warm up questions more natural if you say something like: The people I talk to love to hear stories about people who are (using/providing XYZ services). In addition to that, they want to know more about you as a person. So I’m going to ask a few questions about you.

What is your name?
For providers: Tell me about your role with PSI [or partner org]
For beneficiaries: What brings you here today? (if you are meeting them on site)
Tell me about where you live?
What do you like most about [country/town]
Tell me about your family?
What do you like doing in your free time

Context setting

For staff:

How long have you been [an activist, a lawyer, a pharmacist, a midwife, a provider, a trainer]?
How did you first hear about [org]?
Tell me about your experience with them.
Tell me about what you do.
What does a day in your professional life look like?

For beneficiaries:

When did you first come to [org] for services?
Tell me about your experience.
How did you first hear about [org]?

Relatable Character

For staff:

How did you come to do this work?
What family, child, issue or [fill-in-the-blank] has stayed on your mind this week/month?
Why do you care so much about this family, child or issue?
What keeps you motivated to do this work?
When you’re not working, what do you like to do?
When you tell people what you do for a living, what do you say?
Some people don’t agree with some aspects of our work, what would you say to them?

For beneficiaries:

Tell me about where you were born and raised.
Tell me about people in your life who you are closest too.
Why did you come to get services from [org]
[Explore these paths further depending on their answers]

Desire

For staff:

What does success look like?
What do you hope to achieve by the end of the month?
What do you hope to achieve by the end of the week?
How do you set goals for yourself?
What do you want your legacy to be?

For beneficiaries:

Why does [xyz service] matter to you? / How does [xyz service] help you?
What does your family think about you getting [xyz service]?
Do they know?
How will getting [xyz service] benefit your family?
If you had one wish, what would it be?
What do you hope your children will accomplish?

Conflict/Obstacles

For staff:

What challenges do you face?
What is your biggest fear or concern?
What is the hardest part?
Do you have moments when you are afraid things won’t work out?
Is there a person or people who don’t want you to succeed? How do they try to stop you?
What gets in the way of your success?
What challenges do people you serve face?

For beneficiaries:

What is your biggest fear?
What is the hardest part?
Is there a person or people who don’t want you to get [xyz service]? How do they try to stop you?
What prevents more people like you from getting [xyz service]?
What would you tell someone to encourage them to get [xyz service]?

Other

For staff:

How do you hope this story will end?
What’s the next step?
What more help do you need?
If you could tell someone why they should support [org], what would you say?

For beneficiaries:

What’s the next step?
What more help do you need?

Storytelling