Yahoo Finance’s LaRoche on preparing for interviews

Yahoo Finance’s Julia LaRoche spoke with Polina Pompliano of The Profile on how she prepares for executive interviews.

Here is an excerpt:

How do you prepare for your interviews?

I love the preparation process! For some of my interviews, it’s taken me years to land them. I’m persistent, though. When I decide that I want to talk to someone, I keep a running Google Doc to add notes, whether it’s from a podcast, book, speaking appearance, article, or television hit. Some of these can get to be several pages long.

When I get that “yes,” I know I’ll have a solid foundation to work with. My first big on-camera interview was with Howard Schultz in December 2016. I didn’t do CEO interviews at that time. I didn’t even cover Starbucks.

Ahead of time, I made sure to read every book Howard had written (3 at the time), watched past interviews, read memos he had written, watched a speech he had given the night before. I think it’s crucial always to do your homework before you sit in that interviewer’s chair.

Another example was Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, it took me probably three years to land an interview with him. I read all four of his books and continued making that ask.

Our first interview was in November 2019. My preparation was evident during that conversation. I think guests appreciate it when you’re prepared. It pays off. I did five interviews with Benioff in 2020.

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