It is hard to get people to go off script, particularly if they are not speaking in their native language, or trained to speak in front of a microphone. In order to get people to open up and talk about their challenges, you need to be empathetic and sincere. Being an objective and detached observer does not work. You have to get outside of your comfort zone and share your own hopes and fears and insecurities.

The ability to be emotionally intimate and authentic with other people is really hard and is a skill that can be trained, if it is not something you know how to do naturally.