I love doing interviews, which is good since I’ve done more than 5000 of them! They’re a great way to add content your blog, learn something new, and make a new contact or refresh an old one. But how do you do one that creates buzz and interest for your readers or video viewers? Here are some things I’ve learned along the way.
Before the interview:
Read everything you can about your interviewee, particularly previous interviews. That allows you to cover new ground and get an exclusive bit of content for your blog! If you have the opportunity to talk to the interviewee ahead of time that’s helpful. You can ask them a few questions to see what direction they are going to go and what areas could be the most fruitful – just don’t ask too many questions, you don’t want the interview to feel rehearsed.
Write your questions down. I rarely refer to written questions, but it helps me frame things in my mind, ensures I don’t forget anything, and gives me something to glance at if I get off track. Writing down your questions also allows you to really listen because you aren’t worrying about thinking of a new question.
The warm-up: You want to build a rapport with your interviewee and quickly. If I’m somewhere in their space I will ask about photos or books I see or pets and hobbies. Pick something you are genuinely interested in. Sometimes you get some great insights! This also allows you to set up your gear in an unobtrusive way.
Video Tips:
Framing your shot: Pick a background that’s not distracting. You don’t want people walking behind the subject if possible. People do wacky things on camera and inevitably it’s when your subject says something great! Even if it’s a staged background, the eye is naturally drawn to action. In this video response from Taylor Guitars about the “United Breaks Guitars” YouTube video what the manager is saying is interesting, the problem is the background is more eye-catching than he is.
Because the average web video player is very small, in most cases you want to frame the shot so only the persons head and maybe a little bit of shoulders are in there. Give a little bit of space at the top of their head and if they are turned at an angle put space in front of their face not at the back of their head.
Use an external microphone. Even inexpensive ones offer much better sound than the omni-directional mics that come attached to your camera.
To test the audio and video ask your subject to say and spell their name and tell you what their title is. The bonus: you make sure you have it in case you lose their business card.
Questions Do’s and Don’ts:
Do ask open ended and short questions. How did you start __? Why did you do this? Why did that work? I also like: you did this, tell me about that.
Do ask challenging questions. Softball questions are boring for your viewers and make you look like you aren’t serious. It’s okay to ask about controversies or failures. I think there is a misconception that you have to be hostile; that’s not true. You are trying to understand your subject’s point of view and illuminate something for your viewers/readers.
Don’t ask questions that could be answered with yes or no.
Don’t ask two questions at once. Usually people will answer only one of them. Sometimes they don’t want to answer the other one and hope you forget, or they forget, which leads to the awkward “what was your other question?”
Don’t be afraid to rephrase the question or ask it again if the answer seemed awkward, the person went off on a tangent or they didn’t answer the question you thought you asked.
Wrap it up:
I always like to ask if there is anything they wanted to add, or if there is anything that I missed. Sometimes you get something great to wrap up your interview.
Thank them for their time and when the interview is ready to go send them another quick thank-you and link to where they can see the interview. Don’t be afraid to ask “Is there anyone else I should interview for this project?”
The more interviews you do the more confident you will be. And try not to get nervous if you land a big interview. You are a professional, and the person wouldn’t have agreed to the interview if you weren’t worthy of conducting it. 
Do you have techniques that have worked well for you? Questions about what I have here? You can post it in the comments or send me an email.
Image courtesy of fensterbme
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Great post Jen!