Interview suggestions?

Posted in: darrelrussell.com edit

06 Jan 2009

We are planning on doing our first "man in the street" interviews this Friday and we are looking for any tips some of the seasoned pros can supply.

We are already planning on memorizing a set of questions to ask people, but we are curios if there are any other tips.

Thanks!

I've been interviewing people in the studio for years but was entirely unprepared for interviewing people on the fly on the streets. Totally different beast. Fortunately for me, and you, Tod Maffin has a welath of infromation to share at http://radio.blogware.com/blog/Podcasting101 Go the the bottom of the page to Podcasting 101: Illustrated Tips for Newbie Podcasters and follow the links.

One thing that has proven invaluable is Maffin's tip is that you never look at your microphone during an interview. if you do, so will the interviewee, which makes them self-conscious and thus kills the spontaneity of the interview. Big no-no.

I menyioned this in another post but I'm on the fence using a hand held mic. On the one hand, people will treat you with a bit more respect if you have a mic. POn the other hand, mics make people self conscious. See above.

Currently I'm just using the built-in mic on my iRiver and after a minute or two the interviewee forgets it's even there. On the other hand, it's difficult to approach people for interviews with a cheap looking piece of plastic.

Bazooka Joe

don't jump all over the interview. Let them talk, pause until you are sure they are not going to say anything else, THEN ask the next question.

At the top of the recording (or at the back) have them say AND spell their full name (so you can get it right on the liner notes). If they have a title, have them say that, too.

When asking your interview questions, don't ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no...if you do, you're likely to get a yes or no :)

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

After I posted the last message I happened to recall the interview I was most proud of. I was doing a phne interview with Orderus Amongus of the band Gwar (a punk rock version of Kiss).

Orderus was staying in character of being a depraved demi-god out to destroy the human race. While it made for a funny interview i could tell that Orderus was just literally just phoning this one in. Despite the comedy, I was hoping for some depth and i was about to shug my shouders and just accept what he was giving when I asked the "magic" question: what is your favorite horror movie. Orderus clearly lit up, this was a subject near and dear to him and for a few brief, but treasure minutes, he told me of his love of the film classic, Nosferatu.

After that, Orderus went back to his canned patter but I've always been proud of that moment when he opened up and was genuinely excited about the topic matter.

Anyway, always be on the look-out for that magic question.

Bazooka Joe

Try to look professional. If you have a mic that has one of those little box things around it, you're more likely to get people to allow you to interview.

The interview I'm most proud of is probably the first interview I ever did, about 18 years ago for a computer magazine I was editor of at the time (PC Laptop). The subject was Charlton Heston and I had an hour with him at his home. Despite having no experience with interviews at all, things went really well for several reasons.

First, Heston is a genuinely nice guy. "Call me Chuck," he said, as he introduced himself, to which I responded something like, "No, I don't think I can."

Second, the interview was about laptop computers, which was my field of expertise at the time and which I was very comfortable talking about. Heston had been using an ultraportable laptop (the NEC UltraLite) for months and was infatuated with it, so he also enjoyed talking about it. It was also new subject ground for him so he was more relaxed and animated than I imagine he would be in a standard film interview.

Finally, I was genuinely interested in his experience with the laptop, so I instinctively followed my own advice from my previous post and focused the interview entirely on him except when he asked me something. I also listened to his responses without interrupting except to clarify something. As a result I got an hour of his time instead of the half hour I had expected, along with a great interview.

Craig

Get a signed release form prior to getting the interview if possible, afterwards if not. Here's a sample culled from a quick Google search...it's for a school so you'll need to copy and paste to get what you need:

http://urbandreams.ousd.k12.ca.us/forms/video_release.pdf

Also have the interview subject state their name at the beginning of the interview so the interview is clearly tied to the release form.

This may seem like overkill but without it you're open to a lawsuit.

Also, camilian's advice is excellent. Really listen to what they're saying as well and modify your questions or add new ones based on what they've said. And don't worry about looking professional...sometimes the equipment can get in the way and end up making them feel self-conscious. I'd rather interview with stealth mics (or lapels) than a handheld...point them out to the interview subject at the beginning of the interview so they know I'm recording, then just talk naturally...I'll get a much better interview that way.

Also, focus on your subject. If you want to get someone to talk, have them talk about themselves. For the most part they couldn't care less about you so resist the temptation to go off on tangents about how you've done something similar to what the subject is talking about. It will only derail the interview and shut down your subject.

Craig

#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.#

darrelrussell

Interview suggestions?

Author

Archives