Information Interview/Networking Struggles

Hello WSO,

I'm a sophomore at a top 4 undergraduate business school who is looking for internships for this coming summer while also networking for junior year internships. I've been cold emailing alumni and have been getting a 40% response rate.

However, I feel like that these phone calls aren't going as well as they should. The guy I just talked to over the phone was literally lifeless. I get it - its Monday morning and he's aguishly looking forward to another 100 hour week. But at the same time, I feel like I need help on the other side not only to keep the conversation going but meaningful. A lot of these interactions have resulted in me asking 5 or so questions and the banker answers them with general responses that I've heard every other phone call. I try to ask specific questions about the person's career path/the firm they are working at and it doesn't help. Every conversation just seems dead. Sometimes I wish they would just throw a basic technical question at me like "what are the 3 main valuation methods" so I could at least show them what I know, even if it's not that much right now.

Is this what informational interviews are always going to be like? Am I doing something wrong? I just want to better myself and not make bankers feel like they wasted 15 - 30 min of their day.