Before
Answer these before the interview:
- What do I already know?
- What do I only think I know?
- Which claims require direct confirmation?
- What documents should I see?
- What is the strongest story hypothesis, and what could disprove it?
During
Ask for these:
- exact episodes
- sequence
- choices
- alternatives
- reasoning at the time
- numbers
- physical setting
- tools and artefacts
- people who disagreed
- costs and consequences
- what changed later
Follow anomalies rather than the interview script.
After
Answer these after the interview:
- What did I witness directly?
- What was reported?
- What needs cross-checking?
- Which answer felt rehearsed?
- Which detail deserves follow-up?
- What new hypothesis appeared?
- What did I assume that the interview weakened?