Advice
By Media
By Stage

Preparing for an Interview

Last updated: 24 November 2010
Published in: Creating new digital media |
Tags: audio | sound recordings | video |

Aside from correctly addressing the technical concerns when conducting an interview, the success of a good interview also relies heavily on the interaction between the interviewer and the subject and the pre-production preparation undertaken. This document aims to provide some useful tips and thoughts to help you enhance your interviews and create a relaxed and productive conversational environment.

1. Designing the interview

Before you put pen to paper regarding specific questions, it is important to think about the following in order to shape the interview into a useful resource. Professional interviews are designed to convey a specific opinion, or to get across some specific points. Any spontaneous extras are counted as a bonus, but are certainly not relied upon.

What main points do you wish to convey as a result of the interview?
This is most important aspect of design in an in interview, and once you have defined your aims, you can then implement a structure, akin to a storyboard. The main points could be the subject's opinion on X, their research methods and results regarding Y, or an overview to topic Z.
What tone do you wish to convey?
Serious and formal? Light hearted but informative? Enthused and upbeat?
The manner in which you conduct yourself (as the interviewer) alongside the working of questions as well as the subject manner and your rapport with the subject will define the tone that is perceived by your audience.
Who is your audience?
It is important to identify who your intended viewers are in order to conduct the interview at the appropriate level and include all of the required information.

2. Preparing the interview questions

Once you have defined the aims of the interview (i.e. what you wish the interview to actually say to the listener/viewer), you can then structure your questions to cover presenting the background information required (what has lead up to the interview), and the context of the interview (why is the interview happening?). After this you can then include questions to allow the subject to discuss the areas that cover your aims.

Start with some general questions to allow the subject to ease in to the interview. They don't necessarily need to be essential to the interview but they may contain some useful background sound bites.
Aim to keep questions short, as long indepth questions may lead the subject to only answer the last part of the question, or forget all the parts. You can edit answers together afterwards and drop some of the questions if you desire.
The interview questions do not need to be presented to the subject on the day of the interview, or even as they are asked during the interview. Send your subject the questions beforehand if possible, in order for them to prepare and feel more relaxed on the day. Also any misunderstandings around the questions can be ironed out.
Engaging in dialogue with the subject before the interview may lead to discussions that generate further questions unthinkable previously, thus deepening the level of understanding to produce a more enriched resource.

3. Preparing yourself (the interviewer)

Often, preparing oneself can take a back seat when the focus is on the subject, but communication in interviews is more than simply asking questions.

Always let the subject carry on speaking without interjecting. If you think of a new question or topic you'd like to explore whilst they are talking, make a note of it and then enquire only when the subject has finished answering the current question. Unless tape/recording media space is an issue, you can edit out all unwanted content afterwards, but you may miss some crucial information through interrupting and directing the conversation in such a forced way.
Furthermore, a common technique used in professional interviews that is worth bearing in mind, is that of leaving large pauses after the subject stops speaking. Keeping eye contact and a smile or look of interest can simply prompt the subject to speak further on the subject, and often the most important answers to questions occur a while after a subject has started answering, as most people will begin an answer to a question with what they expect you to want to hear, which is often predictable and sometimes superficial.
Avoid making agreeable or disagreeable noises or words whilst the subject is talking. Instead use eye contact, facial expressions and importantly smiles to encourage the subject. An interview with frequent sounds such as ‘hmm', ‘yes', or ‘right' does not sound pleasurable to a listener, and although it may mimic the flow of a normal conversation, when recorded it can be particularly distracting.
Always remember that any unwanted information can be edited out later, and sometimes it takes a while for an interview to start gelling together, as the process can at first seem uncomfortable - as with any first time conversation where there is pressure to perform, such as a job interview. Questions that do not go well at the beginning, for example, can be asked again at the end of the interview, to get a better result.
An interview is not a ‘moment in time' process that can only be captured once. If you need to, repeat questions for better answers, or even discuss the answers with the subject if you feel they could be improved, and then record another take.

4. Preparing your subject

Unless your subject is a seasoned speaker in recording productions, an effort should be made to put them at ease and to create a relaxed environment. Being interviewed alone can be a very nerve-wracking experience for some, alongside the prospect of having a video camera closely focused on them, as well a microphone attached to their clothes.

Techniques such as starting the interview with a few general (but not essential) questions, as previously mentioned, can provide some practice and time to relax before the more important questions and answers are underway. Also, practising questions or recording a few takes of the same question can help ease any feelings of pressure or nerves. These things can be done with the recording rolling and can be blended into the interview as a whole, for later editing. Blurring the distinction between 'practice' and 'take' can be effective because constant stopping and starting of recording equipment can quell the flow of an interview conversation.

5. Preparing the equipment and recording environment

It is important to setup and run all of the equipment in way that it impedes on the interview process as little as possible. Routine checks, including checking media capacity, battery life and that all connections are correct and working properly are standard practice but should not be taken lightly. The following is a list of useful tips for recording interviews. For more in-depth information on videoing interviews please see our advice document A Basic Guide to Videoing Interviews.

As with any production a test recording should be undertaken on the day and then closely monitored back to be checked for background noise.
Anticipate longer timings than predicted. This avoids having to monitor or spend time addressing technical matters when it is important to be focused on the interview itself.
If using two microphones, using the same ones will produce a more natural sound.
If possible bring some sort of lighting, at least a reflector, particularly if you can't check out the location ahead of time, so that you have some chance of dealing with whatever you find.

In offices people tend to have their desks by the window, which is great for the person sitting at the desk but horrible for the person shooting the video; closing the blinds is one way of dealing with this; another is to find a way of shooting the person with the window at your side.

Last updated: 24 November 2010
Published in: Creating new digital media |
Tags: audio | sound recordings | video |

Ask us a question

We provide a FREE enquiry service giving advice to the UK Further and Higher Education community.

You can ask us anything, typical questions include - "What formats should I use?" "How do I...?" "What tools can achieve the result I need?" "What is new and emerging?"