Wednesday, August 19, 2009

A few words about interviews...

As part of my nonprofit work, I'm involved with the production of a campaign video. For me this was a bit of a flashback to my TV news days as we shot 10 separate interviews in a day. All were with clients and volunteers with with a social servcie agency. Most had never been on TV before.

As a group and individuals I was very proud of their ability to share their very personal stories. The interviews ranged from two Holocaust Survivors to a mentor and his 10 year old friend. Throughout the day I was reminded of some good tips for conducting interviews:

Ask open ended questions. You don't want to ask anything that just produces a, "yes or no," answer.

Keep your questions simple and to the point. When most people have an answer in mind, they're ready to say it. Don't keep rambling on with a longwinded question if you can tell that your subject is ready to talk.

Focus on your subject as if he or she is the most important person in the world.
Unless the room is on fire, you really want to give them your full attention. Think about how rare that is in our multi-tasking world.

Always ask, "Is there anything you'd like to add?" at the end of the session. Sometimes people have a really powerful soundbite in them but they don't share it unless you ask for it. So give them a chance to share.

Keep things conversational. A good interview is a conversation and not an inquisition. Have some good questions in mind but let the discussion flow naturally.

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