Fun But Dangerous Concepts No. 1

 Before you start thinking this is about freight-hopping or some such, let me say that it's about interviewing other bloggers. That should explain the fun part, so what's this about dangerous? Well, it's potentially the prospect of asking people things that they don't really want to talk about, or being asked by them, or learning facts one doesn't necessarily want to know, or, or, whatever! Even an interview can go horribly wrong - and I'm not referring to job interviews.



 What's the idea? Swapping interviews with other bloggers. That's the simple part. Wouldn't it be lovely to have the transcript of a Q&A session on your blog? Readers seem to think that an interview makes both participants special, as when an important person is interviewed by a respected journalist. Of course this isn't necessarily the case, and an important person can be stuck with a really amateurish interviewer. But let's not go there. Simply carry on as though both parties are VIP. It's sure to captivate an audience. At least until one starts asking lame questions or the other starts giving lame answers.


 Should I concoct a mock interview here? Uh, well, that would require some thought, and I'm not fully capable of that at the moment. Instead, let's discuss prospective questions. That's the second-most-difficult part of an interview. Whaddya gonna ask? Stock Questions? Random Questions? Questions peculiar to your own idiosyncrasies? Well, in my case, that would be a good thing, a goof. But It really depends on the situation. Some people are just not going to respond well to certain lines of question. So it's incumbent on the questioner to learn a few things about the respondent in advance, and to ask at least a few perceptive questions relating to the respondent's background or interests.


 Are we ready for that mock-interview yet?