Interviewing someone is a great way to gain new knowledge and to share that knowledge. Conducting, recording, and editing an interview is a valuable, but learned, skill set. Here is an overview of the skills you will need to develop.
1. Research - Know the person and know the topic.
2. Location - Consider the visual, audio, and how well the location will allow your interview to be a conversation.
3. Interview - Followups, feedback, and engagement.
4. Record - Audio, video, live or virtual
5. Transcribe - turn the recording into text.
Some tips from Sarah Stuteville:
Prepare your goals ahead of time.
Know what questions you’re going to ask and why you’re going to ask them. Heading to an interview with a sense of what you want to get out of it (a colorful re-enactment of an event, an on-the-record opinion on the issue you’re covering, general background, etc.) is critical to conducting a successful interview.
You should already be thinking about what you want your piece to look like and what you need from this interview to get your article closer to that end result.
Empower your subject.
A great question to ask if you don’t fully understand the perspective of your interviewee is, “What is your ideal solution/resolution?” Obviously this only works in certain circumstances, but when appropriate it can help clarify a person’s point of view or opinion.
Endure awkward silences.
I know this is totally counterintuitive. My instinct is to keep chattering and asking questions to keep people feeling comfortable, but sometimes, especially when you’re dealing with sensitive subjects, you need to shut up and wait.
Think about the end product.
If you’re interviewing for audio or video, you want to ask two-part questions, which encourages subjects to talk for longer blocks of time.
Another great trick for audio interviews is to have your subject re-enact the story. It makes for good sound and helps you avoid having too much of your own narration later on.
Ask for what you need.
Seriously, sometimes interviewees are frustrating not because they’re trying to bust your chops, but because they just don’t understand what you want from them. I find that many interview subjects get a kick out of having you “pull back the curtain” a little and tell them about your process.
You can say, “Listen, I really need a quote from you encapsulating your feelings on this issue,” or, “I really need you to walk me through the chronology of this,” or even, “I really need you to take me to a location that is relevant to this issue so I can set a scene.”
Work them up.
Another great question is, “Why do you care about this issue?” This can be an effective way to get a strong and emotional quote about why the topic you’re covering is so important.
This high school student project explains some good tips for conducting an interview. Are there any of her own advice that she forgets to follow in the video?
Here is a link to interviews the 8th grade Journey students of 2020-21 created.