by Troy DeVolld
Working on Dancing With the Stars again has been a real treat, thought it’s certainly keeping me away from the blog.
Just wanted to pop by today and share a neat little thought on interviews courtesy of my pal Dan, another producer on the show.
We were having a conversation about good interview technique this week, and he offered up a great bit of advice that hadn’t occurred to me after a decade and a half of working on interview questions and conducting more than my share of “look at me, not at the camera” sit-downs.
“You know, I really don’t like it when people start a response with I think,” said Dan. He explained that he felt it diluted the certainty and oomph of the statement that followed.
The more I thought about it, the more I agreed.
Look at these two responses:
“I think Carol was at least twenty minutes late.”
“Carol was at least twenty minutes late.”
The second one’s undoubtedly more impactful, because it sounds so darn certain. The wishy-washy first statement sounds a little unsure, as if it was maybe fifteen or twenty-five minutes.
The only time that “I think” could be useful is if you had some legally hairy content and your subject said something controversial, stating their opinion. Then “I think” clarifies that it’s their position and not a statement of absolute fact. I’m no attorney, but I imagine that it could help get your powerful personal statement through legal/S&P.
Thanks, Dan!