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Why I Am Stuck Doing
E-mail Interviews
By Meryl K.
Evans
Donna Talarico writes about her experience in moving from e-mail interviews to
in-person interviews in her article
"Why I Deleted E-mail Interviews."
Nothing beats face-to-face meetings as it's the most intimate way to
connect with the person to whom you speak. Except for me, face-to-face puts my
articles at risk of incorrect information and quotes.
You see, I've been profoundly deaf since birth. I rely on lip-reading instead of
my hearing. While the Internet may take away the "personal" connections we make
in person, it lets me be a writer. Without e-mail, instant messenger, and
websites, getting the interview would become a struggle.
Operator! Operator!
Sure, I can use the relay services (I call an operator, who in turn, calls the
person I want to call. The operator types to me what the person says.) but the
process is less personal than e-mail. The operator is not me. Operators don't
use personality or inflections when telling the caller what I say (or type, in
this case). If I type, "You're kidding," do you say it with an exclamation
point? As a question? Cynically? Punctuation through relay calls doesn't occur
often. Even if I use a question mark, the phrase can be said several ways.
The relay also turns people off. People hang up on me or accuse me of selling
something. Hey, I hate sales calls as much as anyone, especially when they ask
for me and won't go away until they hear from me in spite of my husband telling
them I can't hear on the phone.
See the Whites of Their Eyes
As for in-person interviews, sure I can do that. However, most of my
interviewees hail from places far away. But that's not the only reason. Many
studies show lip-readers catch only one-third of what's said. Try reading every
third word of this article and see how much you understand.
Even though I have the right to ask people to repeat what they said, most of the
time I ask once and then give up. I can't admit to people whom I have trouble
understanding that I can’t understand them. To me, it feels like an offensive
remark. My husband is a pro at figuring out my reactions or facial movements
when I'm conversing with someone. When he sees it happen, he'll say in front of
the person, "Did you catch that?"
"Yes," I, of course, always reply whether or not it's true.
Embarrassment
Then I have well meaning friends who tell someone I meet for the first time, "Meryl
reads lips. Make sure you're looking at her when you talk." My face turns red
out of embarrassment and I feel like a child whose mother speaks up for her. I
know they're trying to help, but I can't help wishing I could hide.
When I meet a colleague in person, I catch some of what she's saying. I
desperately want to understand everything she says, but I don't have the courage
to do something about it except for the occasional, "What?" "Excuse me?" Then I
gently push her to contact me anytime through e-mail or instant messenger.
I've had great interviews and bland interviews. When interviewing by e-mail, it
helps to follow up with questions and sometimes you uncover a gold mine. Thanks
to technology, meeting people near and far is an exhilarating instead of a
daunting experience.
Meryl K. Evans (http://www.meryl.net/blog/)
is the Content Maven behind
meryl.net. She is the editor of eNewsletter Journal
(http://www.internetviz-newsletters.com/internetviz/e_article000341690.cfm?x=b4VmJ9f,b2d1HBFV,w)
and writes for PC Today (http://www.pctoday.com).
You can read about her life as a person who is deaf at Bionic Ear Blog (http://www.meryl.net/ci/).
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