Geoff Decker

Interviews are an underrated DIY tool for creating content.

But there is a perception that interviews have to be these formal, super-polished events like what you see and hear on 60 Minutes or Fresh Air.

Asking questions.

You don't need to have a press pass or a podcast to "do an interview". You just need to be curious about a topic, write down a few of the questions you have about it, and start reaching out to people who you think can shed some light.

From Conversations to Content: My Interview Checklist

Turning your conversations into something of value to share with audiences does require some formalities and guidelines. Still, it's more doable than you might think.

Here is the general process that I follow for my interviews.

Determine your purpose: What do you hope to learn from conducting this interview? What answers or insights are you hoping to find from the conversation? 

Create a short list of interview subjects: Come up with 2-3 people to interview. The list should represent a range of diverse perspectives.  

A few days ago, I received a DM from a trusted friend, someone with a ton of wisdom about how learning works.

Graphs are a fast and efficient way to convey information but they are often easily misinterpreted.

Exponential growth bias is one of the biggest ways in which we misinterpret graphs. we consistently underestimate our extrapolations when we’re asked to analyze data based on graphs showing growth that accelerates over time (as opposed to data showing linear growth).

Lorenzo Ciccione is a researcher who is devoted to studying how people extract meaning from graphs and plots. The inundation of data from the COVID pandemic offered a unique opportunity to explore what, if any, kinds of charts can help people make accurate sense of growing COVID cases. I recently heard him talk about his research in a conversation with Meriam Good, who is the president and CEO of Mind Science (Lorenzo won research funding through Mind Science's BrainStorm Neuroscience Pitch Competition.)

Simplicity is key

What Ciccione found is that people were able to more accurately predict COVID case numbers two weeks into the future when they were presented with simplified graphs showing the trend lines of exponential growth. When they were presented with “noisy” graphs, those spiky ones showing daily case numbers with all of its daily peaks and plummets, predictions were more likely to underestimate the growth.

Interactivity improves performance

Ciccione said that predictions were even more accurate when people were asked to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways than merely telling them a number. Specifically predictions were more accurate when people have the opportunity to actually point and click on a part of the exponential growth graphs. This kind of “active learning” is supported by decades of research in the cognitive sciences.

Are graphs always necessary?

For the purposes of science, public health, or mathematics it makes sense to use graphs and plots. But all of the perils that Ciccione highlights in his research made me wonder if charts aren’t really in the best interest of clarity and audience learning. in many cases it may be worth asking if using a chart or graph is the even necessary? If not, what other simple visual could be used to convey what you want to say?

For Ryan McPherson, an associate professor of practice at the University of Texas at San Antonio, learning about what doesn’t work for his students, especially when it comes to studying, is what sticks with him.

“Things we know don’t work include cramming, studying marathons before a test, highlighting things, rereading things,” McPherson told his LinkedIn followers last year. I recently worked on a piece with McPherson where he shares five evidence-based strategies to help students organize their thinking and retrieve key information.

1. Quiz yourself: Don’t reread the same material. Instead, quiz yourself using flash cards, which is particularly useful before you engage in deeper studying techniques. 

2. Spaced practice: Spacing works the same way as high-intensity interval training. Ditch the marathon cram sessions and space out studying into shorter, more focused, time.

3. Interleaving: Studying the same thing for a long time offers minimal benefits. Retention improves when you mix up HOW you study (flashcard games, writing tasks, or reading a textbook) and the TYPES of problems (mixing lower and higher cognitively complex problems).

4. Teaching others: Having to prepare materials and present information to other people forces you to think more deeply about what key lessons and concepts are most important to understand. 

5. Individual reflection: The act of intentional reflecting is an effective practice for surfacing consciousness and bringing greater awareness.

Stories, at their best, do more than get impressions.

• They spark interest and pique curiosity.

• They surface misconceptions and challenge your audience's thinking.

• They bring people together and connect them to new ideas.

For purpose-driven writers and content creators, principles of learning design can teach us a lot about how to engage our audiences. Like great teachers, we want to help people become more informed consumers, more engaged citizens.

These four learning design principles that can help storytellers engage their audiences as learners — not merely as consumers.

At a time of growing inflation, rising tuition costs in higher ed was a thing before it became trendy.

That’s not good because while wealthy and privileged have had an easier time keeping pace it’s a much more challenging investment for those seeking upward social mobility.

• At private colleges, average tuition for full-time students was $38,070. That doesn't count room and board, which would tack on another $13,600 – bringing a grand total of $51,600 in tuition.

• At public four-year colleges, the average tuition for in-state students is $10,740. After room and board, that comes out to just over $22,000.

• In community colleges, tuition costs have increased at a much slower pace – from $2,310 in 1990-91 to $3,800 in 20-21.

(All data from this essay are from “Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid 2021” published by College Board.)

Over 30 years, with community colleges as an exception, tuition has increased at a steady clip that has outpaced inflation and most family incomes.

• Tuition has nearly doubled for nonprofit private colleges from $19,360 to $38,070.

• It’s doubled and then some at public four-year colleges, from $4,160 to $10,740.

"Close your eyes."

Dr. Santiba Campbell welcomes new students to class at Bennett College, one of two HBCUs for women in the country.

It's a new semester and a good opportunity to bring awareness to the pernicious impact of stereotype threat.

After closing their eyes, she asks: "What does a scientist look like?"

It's a simple prompt that can lead to engaging class discussions. Initial responses, Dr. Campbell recalls, often fit a "crazy, old guy description."

"He's wearning a lab coat."

"He's holding a beaker."

"He hasn't combed his hair."

For Zybrea, a student, grappling with the question was part of her learning journey. Before going to college, she didn't see a lot of Black women working in the science or medical fields. "All I knew was what I was taught and exposed to in high school." (She says her first answer to the question was "an Einstein.")

Fostering a "Research Identity" across disciplines

As a researcher, Dr. Campbell studies the impact of racial discrimination, stereotype threat, implicit bias, and microagressions. To her keen eye, her students didn't have enough positive connections to the kinds of professional fields that they were training for. To be successful in the world, whether they were social workers or chemists, they needed to develop a strong sense of self as a scholar of inquiry.