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Media Creation Resources

Providing support for exploration and creation of new media forms such as animation, soundscapes, graphics design and digital video

Interviewing Tips

  1. Have a brief outline of how you want the interview to go, like shown below. It’s good to have an idea of the general flow of the interview before you start off so that if you find the conversation stalling, you know where to redirect it. Ask follow up questions based on what the guest is talking about, instead of sticking strictly to the script. The more conversational the tone, the better the interview will sound!
    The flow below is intended to interview guests about events they're putting on, but it could easily be modified to talk about people’s jobs or experiences.
     
    1. Introductions (Introduce the group yourself before asking them to introduce themselves. Who are you? What group do you represent? How did you get involved with them? What is your role in the group?)
       
    2. Talk about the group or person (What is your group? Why is it important? What do you do around the city/world? What kind of events have you held in the past? If you want to talk about specific events, direct the conversation there, sometimes people have a tendency to ramble about their group.)
       
    3. Talk about the upcoming event (What are you doing? Have you done it before? This is where you can really just chat. Ask questions about specifics that interest you or that sound cool!)
       
    4. Talk about getting involved in the group/event. (Can anyone join? Is there a fee? Do I need to register? Etc etc.)
       
    5. “Is there anything else you wanted to add?” (This gives people a chance to add any last minute additions or things they forgot to say earlier.)
       
    6. Thanks so much for being on the podcast!
       
    7. Reiterate the event/group, remind the audience who you were talking with.
       
  2. Talk to your interviewees before recording; they’re often very nervous! Let them know generally what you’re planning to ask and let them suggest questions if they want to touch on specific issues.
     
  3. Ask open ended questions, avoiding yes/no questions except to clarify details such as dates and times.
     
  4. Ask only one question at a time, so your interviewee doesn’t get lost and confused.
     
  5. Research your guest beforehand so you can know what interesting things they’re doing that you can touch on in the interview.
     
  6. Some podcasters like to keep the microphone rolling the whole time the guests are in the room, both before and after the interview. A lot of interesting information can be caught in casual conversation with the guest, but always make sure you have their permission to broadcast what they say if you choose to include clips outside of the formal interview.

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