A LITTLE HEADS-UP ON THE INTERVIEWING & PLANNING COLLABORATION PROCESS

Eleni Vardaki - educational articles and collaborations for individuals and schools

Thank you for taking the time to do a 10-minute interview for my newsletter community of of 900+ parents, teachers, students, school counselors/psychologists, school leaders/administrators, and specialized therapists working with schools. 

Once a month, I spotlight an expert via my monthly Guest Speaker/Guest Writer series over on my blog to introduce them to my audience. Please see below my prompts and interview guidelines. 

You can send me any interview ideas or suggestions you have to eleni (at) elenivardaki.com 

Warm regards, Eleni

PRE-INTERVIEW PREP

This is a checklist of items I need from you:

  • Who your advice/experience sharing/activity demonstration is aimed at (Teachers? Parents? School age students? Uni students? School counselors? School leaders?), so that I can categorize it accordingly on my blog.
  • After editing, the final interview will be about 10-15 minutes in length. That includes intro, time to ask questions/transition between questions, and the wrap up. Please be aware that if we run over into the maximum of 15 minutes mark, I will have to edit out some parts so that it fits into the 10-15 minute cut-off point for viewers to respect viewers’ time. So I recommend practicing the timing of what you want to say, and if you want to do a demonstration to time that as well, so that you know it will fit into the time frame.
  • (Optional) A 3-7 word title you want me to use to describe the topic of your interview. If you don’t mind what the title is, then I can come up with a title for it.

POST-INTERVIEW BITS & BOBS

After the interview, I’ll need the following bits and pieces to put together the blog post: 

  • A headshot for your speaker bio.
  • A short bio (3-4 sentences).
  • The link to your professional LinkedIn account, or a social media that account you want people to visit (so that I can link out to what you most want to promote when I introduce you).

INTERVIEW TONE & STYLE: MINI-TUTORIAL STYLE

Two words to try and keep in mind, as you plan and prep your interview content: practical and concise. 

  • PRACTICAL: Whether the interview is focused around introducing and guiding viewers through a targeted 5 minute meditation, or sharing 2-3 principles or exercises people can do as they follow along, the purpose of video interviews is to dive right into a solution-focused approach to a real-world educational problem. 
  • CONCISE: The purpose of these 10 minute interviews is to share practical advice in a to-the-point problem-solving manner.

EXAMPLE 1: If you want to share your story and experience with introducing EFT into a school setting / schools, this ‘why did you decided to do that’, ‘how’, and ‘with what results’ Guest Speaker interview structure has proved popular with my audience: https://elenivardaki.com/eft-in-brazilian-schools/

EXAMPLE 2: If you are a trauma-sensitive practitioner who works with parents who’s child is experiencing anxiety, you can make demonstrating one of your most effective mindfulness exercises the main part of the interview: https://elenivardaki.com/help-child-experiencing-anxiety/

EXAMPLE 3: If you are a coach / therapist / author, etc who works with parents who are stuck in parenting guilt, you can make sharing 3 principles or practical examples from your experience or book the main part of the interview: https://elenivardaki.com/moving-beyond-guilt

Alternatively, the Guest Writer articles template (while still including the practical, real-world problem solving aspect) is for topics where you want to expand your topic more and add more context and story-telling. 

ALTERNATIVELY, YOU MAY FEEL MORE DRAWN TO WRITING AN ARTICLE

If you want to be able to expand your topic more, writing an article may be a more appropriate format for the message and advice you want to get across to my audience: 

Guest Writers Checklist