Be a Better Interviewer

Posted: October 04, 2013

[caption id="attachment_11582" align="alignright" width="375"]© popyconcept - Fotolia.com[/caption]Whether you're getting ready to do your first interview or your 500th, taking time to prepare is key to a successful interview. Follow these tried and true tips to make sure your interview gets you what you need.

Mark Nichol, editor at DailyWritingTips, shares 10 interview preparation tips.

10 Interviewing Tips and Techniques

Whether you are conducting a journalistic Q&A session or preparing an oral history, it’s important to prepare carefully for an interview. Here are some guidelines to help you succeed with the interview session.

1. Be Straightforward
When you contact an interview subject, state your objective clearly and honestly. The nature of the interview you conduct should be the nature of the interview you described to the subject. Diversions from the stated agenda may upset the subject and undermine the interview. However, do not provide your questions to the subject in advance; tell him or her that any questions you prepare ahead of time are only part of the interview.

2. Choose an Interview-Friendly Location
The interview subject’s home or office is generally better than a public location such as a coffee shop, with fewer unfamiliar distractions. A subject in the comfort of his or her own environment will provide you with better material, and you can make light conversation about a photograph, a memento, or some other object or feature to start the interview off on a relaxed footing.

3. Research the Subject Thoroughly
Find out as much as you can about the person before the interview. Be well prepared, and distinguish between facts and opinions so you can query the subject appropriately about what you’ve learned.

4. Determine a Theme
Avoid treating an interview as simply a series of general questions and answers. After conducting research, decide what the tone of the interview will be, and what you expect to get out of it. Develop a narrative flow based on the questions you wish to ask. The resulting content probably won’t follow that scheme, but your interview should have structure, and the questions should be organized logically by topic.

Read the entire article 10 Interviewing Tips and Techniques, at DailyWritingTips.