WTT: The Sydney Sweeney Interview

Ted breaks down a recent viral video to highlight three important interviewing techniques shared at Capital Allocators University. Read Ted's blog here https://www.capitalallocators.com/the-sydney-sweeney-interview-open-ended-questions-and-the-pregnant-pause. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (⁠https://thepodcastconsultant.com⁠ https://thepodcastconsultant.com/)

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:05Ted Seides?

  This What Ted's Thinking, the Sydney Sweeney interview, open-ended questions, and the pregnant pause breaks down a recent viral video to highlight three important interviewing techniques. The interviewing module of Capital Allocators University begins with the why behind manager interviews. The goal of an interview is simple: to gather information and learn, so the allocator can move the investment process forward. A well-run interview creates the groundwork for better investment decisions, deepens relationships with managers, and builds a reputation as a thoughtful, desirable partner in a competitive market.

• 0:46Ted Seides?

  In contrast, you can't learn much if you try to prove how smart you are or steer others towards agreeing with your point of view. It sounds obvious, but it happens all the time. I recently came across a poor interview that illustrates the power of three timeless interviewing techniques: open-ended questions, short questions, and pregnant pauses. Each is an essential tool for anyone looking to conduct revealing interviews. Here's the setup. Three months ago, American Eagle launched an ad with the tagline, "Sydney Sweeney has great genes." The pun on genes with a J and genes with a G sparked both attention and controversy.

• 1:31Ted Seides?

  While the campaign was commercially successful, some critics inferred an undertone of white supremacy in the mixed metaphor. Last week, a GQ journalist asked Sydney about it. Here's a 27-second clip from the exchange.

• 1:47Speaker 01

  The criticism of the content, which was basically that maybe specifically in this political climate, like, white people shouldn't joke about genetic superiority, like, that was kind of like the criticism, broadly speaking. And since you are talking about this, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about that specifically.

• 2:06Speaker 02

  I think that when I...

• 2:10Speaker 02

  I have an issue that I want to speak about. People will hear.

• 2:14Ted Seides?

  In the interviewing module of Capital Allocators University, I share a slide on tips for asking good questions. It includes openers and labels, avoiding compound questions, and the Colombo question. Let's tackle openers. You can learn more about labels, compound questions, and Colombo when we bring Capital Allocators University online next year. Great questions start with how, what, or why. These words invite the interviewee to expand. So let's have another listen to the interviewer's question.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  The criticism of the content, which was basically that maybe specifically in this political climate, like white people shouldn't joke about genetic superiority. Like, that was kind of like the criticism, broadly speaking. And since you are talking about this, I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about that specifically.

• 3:08Ted Seides?

  That's a textbook example of a bad question. The interviewer asks a "don't you think that?" question, to which Sydney effectively replies, "No." End of story. No information gathered, no learning achieved. If I were interviewing Sydney, I might have asked, "When American Eagle approached you about the ad campaign, what came to mind?" Depending on her response, I might follow up in several ways. By asking, "Why was that interesting to you?", which uses the Toyota Five W's framework. "What else did you think?", which opens the door for further exploration. I might have paraphrased her answer, which uses mirroring. Or I might have asked, "What concerns came to mind?", which is a follow-up from a different perspective.

• 3:54Ted Seides?

  Sydney might not have addressed the backlash, but either way, we would have learned something meaningful beyond her poise at deflecting a poor question. Next, great interviewers ask short questions. The more you talk, the less you learn. In this segment, the question ran 18 seconds. The answer lasted only nine. A good rule of thumb is to speak 10% to 15% of the time in an interview, not 66%, as in this case. Now, this was only a clip, but across the full interview, the interviewer spoke just under half the time. Some of her questions were strong, but whenever she approached sensitive topics, she rambled to get there,

• 4:39Ted Seides?

  and Sydney deflected each one. Next, the pregnant pause. In the public speaking module at Capital Allocators University, I discuss common verbal habits, like using filler words, speaking too quickly, and misreading your counterpart. The words "um," "like," "ah," and "you know" creep in to fill silence, especially in American speech. Let's listen again to Sydney's answer.

• 5:07Speaker 02

  I think that when I have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear.

• 5:15Ted Seides?

  Sydney handled the moment flawlessly. She paused rather than use a filler when she wanted to process her next words. She also spoke slowly, which made her appear thoughtful, confident, and in control. The interviewer, by contrast, spoke rapidly and continuously, using "like" and "specifically" as fillers. She also mismatched Sydney's facial expressions, all of which undermined her credibility and ability to connect. Here's the takeaway: if the interviewer's objective was the same as ours in a manager interview, to gather information and learn, she failed. But maybe that wasn't her aim. She might have been chasing virality or trying to make a point of her own.

• 5:58Ted Seides?

  If it was about going viral, she succeeded, but for the wrong reason. The moment that caught fire was Sydney's calm mastery, not the interviewer's political hot take. So when in doubt, ask short, open-ended questions and take a moment to pause. They win every time. If you liked this breakdown, as I alluded to earlier, we're bringing Capital Allocators University online next year. Stay tuned to learn more. Thanks for listening to the show. If you like what you heard, hop on our website at capitalallocators.com, where you can access past shows, join our mailing list, and sign up for premium content. Have a good one, and see you next time.