“Respondents want to be with an authentic person – not a perfect set of questions.”
One of the RIVA Moderator Maxims that isn’t talked about a lot during our courses (due to the fact we have a lot to cover in a short amount of time!) is the one above. And I think it’s an important one.
I want to break up the conversation into two parts:
- Being authentic
- Not a perfect set of questions
First, let’s chat about being authentic in your moderating.
At RIVA, we always tell students that we teach them all the best practices, tips, tricks, and techniques, but they need to bring their own personality and “home training” (things we can’t teach you, you learned these while growing up) to the research room. In our moderating courses, we talk about how any personality type can be a Moderator – but it’s important to remember that your personality should show up in the room with you. Yes, Moderators have to remain neutral to reduce bias during research, but that doesn’t mean they should be robots.
Qualitative research is all about people, humans, and what makes them do the things they do – making it important that you show that you are also human. You can laugh with (not at!), cry with, and have fun with your Respondents as long as you get your data.
Keep in mind that if you aren’t naturally a jokester, it’s not a good time to start in the research room. If you aren’t an exuberant, talk with your hands type, don’t be in the research room. Performing will come off as insincere, wooden, or worse: insulting. Just be yourself.
Now, to address the “not a perfect set of questions.”
Seems counter to what we teach about how to write better qualitative questions, doesn’t it?
But, in reality, you can prepare the perfect questions, draft a beautiful guide, but without being authentic…it doesn’t matter. Respondents won’t feel comfortable enough to share those deep insights crucial to your company or Client’s decisions. No amount of perfect J5s or short questions will work if you don’t show up as yourself or come off as fake.
In short, it’s important to show up as yourself as a Moderator – remembering that your Respondents want to feel comfortable with another human in the room, not just perfectly written questions. And I think showing up authentically is just a good practice in everyday life.
Written by: Brittany Mohammed, Qualitative Training & Research Specialist at RIVA