Youβre reading an excerpt of Stop Asking Questions, by Andrew Warner, a veteran podcast host of 2000+ episodes. The book explains how to lead high-impact interviews and learn anything from anyone. Master the craft of interviewing with this complete digital package. Purchase now for lifetime access to the book and extensive audio and video resources.
Over the years, Iβve been known to host events called Scotch Night at my office, where I invite a few Mixergy listeners to join me for a drink and conversation. I remember one particular evening well. Sitting on tall chairs around a long table, few paid attention to the variety of Scotch bottles I put out. It was all about the conversation. Each founder was eager to hear what was working at other companies, so the group was boisterous.
After an hour, a founder that the group called βCollegeβ (because he was still in school and not old enough to drink) asked, βAndrew, do you ever have a guest who wonβt say anything about their financials? How do you get them to be so open?β Everyone quieted down. As information hunters, it was something they also wanted to learn.
βYeah,β I said. βA few days ago, Shradha Agarwal, founder of ContextMedia, which does health videos for waiting rooms, wouldnβt tell me anything about her revenue. I wasnβt trying to pryβI just needed a sense of how big her company was so the audience could understand what we were talking about. She wouldnβt give me anything.β
βWhatβd you do?β he asked.
βI threw out a number that was absurdly low for her. I asked, βAre you doing at least a million dollars in sales?β Instantly I felt her aggravation. She shot back, βWeβre doing 20 or 30 times that!β That gave me my answer.β
It worked because I lowballed her dramatically. I gave her a number that was almost an insult to the years of work and the amount of pride she had. Instinctively, she felt the need to correct the record.
College smiled when I explained that. He learned something he could use for getting partners for his side hustle. Then we moved on to random Scotch Night conversation, like my enjoyment of running.
βAre you still running?β College asked me.
βYeah, I run a bit,β I said modestly and tried to change the subject.
βDid you ever think about building up to a five-mile race?β he asked.
βFive miles? I do more than that when I run to this office every morning. I ran more marathons than I can count.β
College didnβt say anything, but I could see he was holding back a smile. Eventually, everyone else at the table started laughing.
It took me a moment. Then I realized what happened. College used a dramatic lowball on me. I laughed too.
But secretly, I was happy to share. Running is my passion. Iβm proud of how far I can run, but I feel awkward talking about it because it feels like Iβm boasting. So if you ask me about my running, even though I want to tell you about it, Iβll hold back. The dramatic lowball gave me the push I needed. It made it OK for me to talk about something that I would otherwise hold inside.
As an interviewer, I noticed that people are taught from an early age not to brag, so they resist talking about their achievements. Our job as interviewers is to encourage them to do it. The dramatic lowball does that.
In fact, the dramatic lowball is so effective that I try not to use it in interviews. I donβt edit my interviews, and I donβt want to trick anyone into publicly releasing something theyβre not ready to share. So I reserve the technique for the conversations I have before interviews start.
You can hear how I used it with the heavily bearded Chris Stoikos, founder of Dollar Beard Club (since renamed The Beard Club), a menβs grooming supplies company. During the pre-interview, I asked Chris if he was doing $1M in revenue. βNo,β he shot back.
He was doing nearly $1.5M every month.
I asked him what payment processor he used.
βStripe.β
βCan you do a screen share of Stripe to show me?β I asked.
So Chris logged in and showed me. He shared multiple dashboards, as if to prove how wrong my revenue guess was.
Afterward I was worried Chris regretted telling me. He said he didnβt. He even gave me permission to publish both his revenue and the whole conversation we had before the interview. He was comfortable being open if it meant having more bearded men discover his grooming supplies.
βcautionβ Use the dramatic lowball technique with care. It can lead to such quick results that it can startle the person youβre speaking with. Remember, our goal is to help people be open so we can learn from them.
Loading chartβ¦
Loading chartβ¦
π¬ With Shradha Agarwal: βContextMedia: How One Female Entrepreneur Is Killing It.β
π¬ With Chris Stoikos: βHow Dollar Beard Club is hitting $8M in its first 8 months.β
When Gregg Spiridellis sat down for an interview with me, I had a sense he wasnβt sure why he even agreed to do it. His production company, JibJab, was cranking out viral video after viral video. Heβd even been featured on The Today Show. I wouldnβt blame him for feeling odd about sitting in front of a webcam with someone he had never met as a favor to a friend whom I had interviewed a few days before.
βItβs a challenging day,β he told me when I asked how he was doing. How could I get his best effort when there was so much pulling at his attention?