These are the four most-watched interviews in modern history. There were millions of people who watched them live, and if you weren’t one of them, you saw the famous parts in the news.
For me, the most captivating interview I witnessed live was Oprah’s 2013 interview with Lance Armstrong.
He was there—a cancer survivor and athletic superstar whose amazing comeback inspired a generation. He was also the first person to admit that he had used illegal drugs to help him win seven Tour de France titles.
It broke my heart because I had read all of his books and wouldn’t even leave the house without my Livestrong bracelet on.
Narrative interviews have become an extremely popular interview style in recent years. Unlike traditional question and answer interviews, narrative interviews encourage the interviewee to share stories that reveal their personality, values, and qualifications.
As an interviewer, coming up with compelling and thoughtful narrative questions can be challenging You want to elicit interesting stories without veering into overly personal territory In this article, we’ll explore tips for crafting narrative questions that help you get to know candidates better.
What Are Narrative Interview Questions?
Narrative interview questions prompt the interviewee to share a story as part of their response. For example:
- Tell me about a time you solved a difficult problem.
- Describe a project you worked on that you are proud of.
- Share an example of how you overcame conflict in a team.
These types of questions encourage the candidate to pull from their own experiences and give a story-based response rather than reciting canned answers.
Narrative questions help reveal how the interviewee thinks, communicates, solves problems, and works with others. The stories themselves provide telling details about their priorities, work style, and personality.
Benefits of Narrative Interview Questions
Using thoughtful narrative questions offers numerous advantages:
-
Get a better sense of “fit.” Stories provide insight into how well the candidate’s values, work style, and personality match the role and company culture.
-
Assess communication skills. Observing how the candidate structures and tells stories demonstrates their communication abilities.
-
Reveal problem-solving approaches. Stories about overcoming challenges illustrate how the candidate thinks through problems.
-
Build rapport. Sharing stories helps break the ice and builds rapport between the interviewer and interviewee.
-
Spark memorable conversations. Story-based responses are more memorable and engaging for both parties compared to typical QA exchanges.
-
Surface prepared stories vs authentic ones. Candidates may prepare stories ahead of time for common questions. Well-crafted narrative questions can elicit more spontaneous, genuine stories.
How to Write Narrative Interview Questions
When creating narrative questions, keep these guidelines in mind:
-
Ask for stories, not just opinions. Phrase questions that clearly prompt a story as the response. For example, “Tell me about a time when…” or “Share an example of how…”
-
Keep it open-ended. Avoid yes/no or one-word responses by using open-ended phrasing focused on the “what,” “how,” and “why.”
-
Ask about specific skills. Target key hard and soft skills needed for the role through situational questions about when they demonstrated those skills.
-
Make it personal, not private. Aim for questions that spark stories about professional experiences, not overly personal revelations.
-
Consider the job level. Entry-level candidates have less work experience to draw from, so adjust questions accordingly.
-
Prepare follow-ups. Have some follow-up questions ready to get more detail and depth if their initial response is brief.
-
Manage time wisely. Limit the number of narrative questions to allow sufficient time for answers. Leave time for additional Q&A.
-
Review for legality. Ensure questions don’t touch on any legally protected characteristics like race, gender, religion, etc.
Sample Narrative Interview Questions
Here are some examples of narrative interview questions for different situations:
For Leadership Skills
- Tell me about a big project you managed from start to finish. What challenges came up and how did you handle them?
- Share a time when you effectively motivated your team during a difficult phase of a project.
- Describe a situation where you had to take initiative even though you weren’t officially a leader at the time. What drove you and what was the outcome?
For Communication Abilities
- Walk me through a presentation you gave that you felt was very impactful. What do you think made it so effective?
- Tell me about a time you had to present complex information. How did you make it easy for your audience to understand?
- Share an example of when you had to relay bad news or disappointing results to your team or managers. How did you approach communicating this?
For Overcoming Conflict
- Describe a time when you had a disagreement with a coworker. How did you handle it and what was the result?
- Tell me about a situation where your team was experiencing conflict. What actions did you take to improve team harmony?
- Share an example of when you had to adapt your work style to collaborate more effectively with a colleague. What was challenging and what tactics did you find successful?
For Handling Failure
- Tell me about a time one of your projects or ideas failed. What went wrong and what lessons did you take away?
- Describe a professional mistake you made. How did you take responsibility for it and what changes did you make afterwards?
- Share an example of when you had to deliver bad news about a project to your manager or client. How did you communicate this setback?
Tips for Responding to Narrative Questions
When you ask thoughtful narrative questions, how can you ensure you get an engaging story as the response? Here are some tips:
-
Create a comfortable environment. Have a friendly, conversational tone and make good eye contact to put them at ease.
-
Don’t interrupt. Let them share the full story without interrupting. Take notes on follow-ups.
-
Ask clarifying follow-ups. If they give a brief answer, ask for more detail. Use prompts like “What happened next?” and “What were you thinking at that point?”
-
Listen for cues. Note emotions that come up. Ask about these. “That sounds frustrating – what about the situation was frustrating for you?”
-
Allow silences. Let them pause to reflect without jumping to fill silence. Silence can draw out more thoughtful responses.
-
Be patient. Recognizing they are opening up requires patience. Avoid glancing at your watch or rushing them.
-
Don’t judge. Remain neutral no matter what story they share. You want candid responses, not guarded ones.
Putting Narrative Questions to Work
Crafting thoughtful narrative interview questions requires effort, but pays dividends in more meaningful conversations and better insights into candidates.
It does require training your interviewing skills to move away from rapid-fire Q&A and instead facilitate a storytelling discussion. Set expectations with candidates upfront that you’ll be having a narrative-based interview.
Pay close attention to how easily they open up and articulate stories. Look for types of stories they gravitate towards telling. Analyze what their stories reveal about who they are.
With practice, you’ll gain confidence in crafting narrative questions that give you a vivid picture of a candidate and what they’ll bring to your team. You’ll find the stories candidates share stick with you long after the interview is over.
Here’s what I learned:
- Sometimes, your idols are NOT as awesome as they seem. A great interview can change the world. (Did I already mention that?) .
Let’s put my devastation aside, and consider how this amount of emotion was evoked. The answer is through compelling questions posed by the interviewer.
In a lot of ways, nonprofits that want to tell great stories also need to be good interviewers and ask the right questions to get the best stories and, ultimately, the best content.
Community-generated content (CGC) is a way to share the story of your organization and show off the important, mission-driven work you do. But not every volunteer, employee, beneficiary, grant recipient, program participant and donor is a natural-born storyteller. Thus, asking the right questions can really help you get that memorable, interesting, and shareable content that works so well on news stories, social media, and with the people who matter most to your organization.
Think about the process like this: Great questions → Great stories → Great content
Because of this, we’ve put together a list of 20 interview-style questions that will help even the most inexperienced storytellers use great CGC.
20 Nonprofit Storytelling Interview Questions:
- What effect has (your organization) had on your life? On the lives of others? How did (your organization) help you get through the problems you were having? How does volunteering with (your organization) make you feel? Where would you be today without (your organization)? Who has helped you the most? What effect has (your organization) had on our community? Tell us about the first time you volunteered with (your organization). Tell us about the people who work for or with your organization. What’s the best thing about working for or with it? What would you say to someone who’s thinking about donating to it? What was it about it that made you want to volunteer or donate? What’s your favorite thing about working for or with it? There are a lot of nonprofits out there—what makes yours unique? How does it help people in our community? How has your organization helped you make connections and build relationships? What need does your organization fill in our community? Why is it worth your time to volunteer with your organization? What tips do you have for people who want to learn more about it? How does your organization make our community a better place?
Some of these interview questions about storytelling might not work for every campaign, but they should help you think of ideas for your next campaign.
I think MemoryFox would make the process even easier. If you take the time to come up with great questions at the start of your campaign, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and trouble later on.
Narrative Interviewing and Asking the Right Questions
FAQ
What is narrative based interviewing?
