My last learning objective is centred around being able to ask good questions and knowing how to do so. This blog post is the research in response to this.
The first video was from the BBC Academy on how to be a good journalist, by getting tips from Sarah Montague & Stephen Sackur.
Interview tips:
Quick introduction- introduce people to the subject and the person, this also focuses yourself
Think through where the interview should end up before you start.
Be disciplined and don’t go off topic with people so that you get the best content,
Listen to peoples responses so that you can ask intelligent questions
These points are useful as they suggest ideas as to how you should plan interviews, by having a scripted introduction before you arrive for the interview you instantly focus yourself and it also means that context is given. Furthermore, knowing how you want to tell the story is also important as it means you can ask the right questions and set the right tone. Whilst not directly applicable the point about staying on topic is valid and may mean that you need to rewrite questions to stop people from deviating. Listening to people is vital in an interview as you must be able to think on the fly and follow answers up with questions that are a natural continuation.
Next was a small article about Jeremy Paxman, there is a discussion around simple questions which is what Paxman asks, these are relevant to the audience as they make no assumptions, and are even more important in explaining complicated subjects. While I am not interviewing politicians, it is important to ask simple questions so that those who are being interviewed can follow along with what is being said. We are also not talking about hugely complicated subjects, but the interviewee is most likely going to be more personally connected than they otherwise would be due to the nature of the programme being about disability. Thus meaning direct questions may not always be suitable.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/en/articles/art20130702112133421
Another article discussed five tips on how to get the best interview possible.
- Establish trust- Make the interviewee feel comfortable with you, at ease with the questions and perhaps make yourself a bit vulnerable so you’re less of a threat.
- Dare to be different- Give them something different. Be brave, ask the unexpected, even the unspeakable. Get them to engage with you and get something new.
- Listen, and follow the flow of conversation- If the interviewee says something you want to explore then go for it. Don’t be a slave to the order of your prepared questions. It’ll feel more honest and compelling.
- If you don’t understand an answer, neither will your listeners- Get clarification – one lost thread can derail an interview. There’s nothing wrong with getting your interviewee to explain themselves further.
- Don’t rush on after each answer – pause- Your interviewee might say more (these are often the best bits.) And don’t switch off until you’ve left the room!
The first point that is raised is vital as you must make the interviewee comfortable with you in the room to make them talk openly and get the best out of it, I should also make sure to come across nicely to help settle the interviewee and if needed talk about personal experiences that may relate to the contributor to make myself come across as vulnerable.
While the second is more suitable for professional journalists, the point that can be taken from this is that it is important for the interviewee to expect the unexpected, this can also be expanded to potentially asking a more light-hearted question to make sure the contributor is enjoying themselves.
The third point is more interesting as it reinforces that you must be able to think on your feet if you want to create a more natural conversation lead interview, rather than simply relying on the questions that are written down in front of you, as this may not lead to a good interview. It also allows the interviewee to feel more comfortable as you are then looking at them rather than simply reading questions that were pre-prepared.
Fourthly it is important to get clarification if an answer is vague or doesn’t make sense as this is likely the case for the listener, for example a technical term. As a result, I shouldn’t be afraid to ask more questions or ask for clarity.
Finally allow contributors to pause after a question, as this allows to think and as a result they may tell you the most interesting part of the story.
BBC Journalism skills: interviewing techniques
This video runs through some of the best ways to conduct an interview, most importantly in regards to a political interview is keeping them on topic and directly answering the question. Thus explaining why journalists are continuously interrupting people. Furthermore, it is important to try and put yourself in the interviewees shoes, and experience what they have experienced so that the questions you ask have the most impact. Related to this is that planning questions may not always be right for that approach or interview as it may just be best to try and conduct a conversation rather than a serious interview.
Ted X
This video was interesting as he raised points that haven’t otherwise been talked about for example learning how to blag an interview if you don’t know much about them e.g watching an interview that someone else has done and then picking up points from that could be talked about later and as a result save time and have research done. Use icebreakers, that aren’t icebreakers this is because a simple question that sets the tone which is disguised as a meaningful question will work wonders as it relaxes the contributor. Furthermore listening is integral to being a good interviewer as you must be able to think on your feet and be relevant to create a conversation. Alongside this making sure that it is causal and the contributor is relevant, most important though is to remember that everyone being spoken to is a human.
Finally, is this article which explains the importance of asking open questions
It’s a technique that journalists use regularly to interview eyewitnesses – for instance: ‘Tell me what happened; tell me what you saw; how frightened were you; what help are you getting…?’
And it can be useful in getting high-profile figures, including politicians, to open up – revealing more of the person, less of the policies.
In an interview with a man who’d been charged with rape but later cleared, Victoria Derbyshire asks simple questions to invite her guest to give his side of the story: “What do you say happened?”
Her opener, though – “How would you describe yourself?” – gives listeners the chance to hear something of the person before he tells his story.
This article explains the importance of asking open-ended questions and the benefits that can come from it, with people being required to be open up and tell their own stories rather than simply replying with yes and no answers. It also means that the content that is gained much more interesting for the listener as they get to be in the head of the person.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/skills/interviewing/article/art20130702112133427
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