Interview style is a matter of personal preference, but my approach to interviewing is to make it feel conversational. If someone was listening in on the interview it would sound like it were two people having a casual conversation about the game, it wouldn't feel like someone was going through a list of questions. There are a few reasons why I do it this way:

1. Put the interviewee at ease. The intention is that by making it feel like a conversation it puts the interviewee at ease. This is not an interrogation.
   
   

2. Active listening. To achieve the conversational style you have to first listen to what is being said and then ask questions relating to the answers. This shows the interviewee that they are being listened to and you care about what they are saying. Active listening also helps you pick up on something said that maybe lead to a new line of questioning not on your initial list.
   
   

3. Don’t reveal your cards. By making the conversation sound casual, it reduces the likelihood of the interviewee noticing that you are interested in a specific aspect of the game. The approach whereby you are simply going through a list of questions spells out quite clearly what you are interested in, which might cause the interviewee to wonder why you are interested in a topic, ‘Did I do something wrong?’.
   
   

4. Focus on the person (not the list of questions). If you're spending more time focussing on the interviewee, there's more chance you might pick up on insightful facial expressions or body language. Don’t just pay attention to what is being said, look for change in all forms.
   
   

The conversational style might be more difficult to achieve as the interviewer would ideally be able to remember what is to be discussed (the list of questions), then mentally 'tick them off' as they arise in discussion. It would be ok to glance down now and again to check that all questions are being addressed, but minimising this should help keep the conversational style.

You don’t have to interview this way of course, I would encourage exploration to find a style that you are comfortable with, makes the interviewee feel at ease, and also produces the necessary results.

Key Takeaway

Treating the interview as a casual conversation has many benefits, and at the core is active listening and paying attention to the interviewee. Don’t treat the list of questions as a rigid list to be ‘ticked off’ in order. but rather as a guide to move the conversation as fluidly as possible until all have been covered.

Next: 45. Interview Preparation