Jasz
VIP Contributor
When trying to get top business secrets from successful businessmen, you must be prepared. Like a good journalist, you will need to do your research and be ready for anything. Make sure that the businessmen you are interviewing know who you are and how you will be representing them before they agree to the interview. Also, ask them if there are any questions or topics that are off limits.
Once that is done, have an outline of the questions you want to ask ready ahead of time. You may want to start with some "softball" questions so that you can get the interviewee talking and feeling more comfortable as the interview progresses. Be ready with follow-up questions or additional probing questions based on what they tell you in their answers.
The most important thing is to be respectful and professional at all times during this process. Make sure that your tone reflects your desire to learn and share information as opposed to making accusations or trying to trap the interviewee into saying something he regrets later. However, you should know getting those secrets most times often involves an exchange of sorts, but the tradeoff can be well worth it in the long run.
Once that is done, have an outline of the questions you want to ask ready ahead of time. You may want to start with some "softball" questions so that you can get the interviewee talking and feeling more comfortable as the interview progresses. Be ready with follow-up questions or additional probing questions based on what they tell you in their answers.
The most important thing is to be respectful and professional at all times during this process. Make sure that your tone reflects your desire to learn and share information as opposed to making accusations or trying to trap the interviewee into saying something he regrets later. However, you should know getting those secrets most times often involves an exchange of sorts, but the tradeoff can be well worth it in the long run.