One Interview Question You Should Always Ask

Here’s an interview tip that I picked up in my early days as a reporter: The best way to end an interview for a story is to admit that no matter how prepared you are, you can’t possibly think of all the right questions to ask.

When the interview feels like it’s naturally coming to a close, don’t say thank you and goodbye just yet. You still have one more important question to ask: “Is there anything you’d like to mention that I didn’t ask you about?”

I always try to remember to end my interviews this way, whether I’m talking to a person for a story for a business magazine or a nonprofit newsletter, or an article for a company’s intranet site. More than half the time, the person will respond with, “Oh, yes. I wanted to mention … ” Sometimes they just want to reiterate a talking point; at other times, they may launch into an interesting anecdote. On multiple occasions, asking that final question has elicited information that made the story I ended up writing so much better.

Another way — my favorite way, actually — to ask this question is “What wasn’t I smart enough to ask you about that you wanted to mention?” That version of the question usually elicits at least a chuckle from the person I’ve been interviewing.