Zach Ware

How to use email for interviews

This morning I read a fantastic New York Times including the email correspondence between Natalie Portman and the NY Times correspondent.

Apparently, Hotmail was responsible for the loss of years of past emails of the same nature. They rebooted the conversation for this piece opting to follow their past communication style over doing a candy shop interview.

The piece presented a deep view of both of them as humans. It was not a candy shop interview where Portman gave sound bite answers to sound bite seeking questions. It did not rely on what I call “the magic of a scheduled time.”

It’s a great example of how, when used correctly, email can be a fantastic communication medium.

The Emails of Natalie Portman and Jonathan Safran Foer

First published on July 17, 2016