U36 Task 1

Interview Techniques

Question Types

Open	Open questions are often used when a detailed answer would want to be achieved by the interviewer. These are used as when asked they will not limit the answer the interviewee will give; they can speak about the subject in a more detailed manor, making it easier to talk about subjects and opinions which would mean the interviewer would be able to gain more information.
Closed	Closed questions are used normally to look at more specific things such as opinions and facts. The answer the interviewer would normally get would be a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ which means as the question is direct, the interviewee may find it harder to avoid answering it. Politicians will frequently be asked closed questions as they are clever with what answer they would be able to give, trying to avoid what is being asked. If you are looking for emotions, this would not be the best type of question to ask.
Multiple	Multiple questions are suggestive as the interviewee may be able to see a theme with the questions being asked. You would mainly see these in soft and light-hearted interviews as they would be given more time to speak freely about what they are being asked which may lead to development.
Direct	Direct questions are used to get the exact point across which the interviewer would want to make. Normally the interviewee may have trouble when trying to answer these without being caught out to what the interviewer would want. These would be used to get clear, direct answers.
Suggestive	Suggestive questions are used to imply what the interviewer would be asking the interviewee. The interviewee would come to an answer themselves as the interviewer would be hinting. People who have done interviews for longer would be able to spot this and would be able to have a smarter approach/answer.
Single	A single question is a question which would be asked on it’s own. This would allow the interviewer to be more direct with the question they would be asking the interviewee. You would mainly see single questions being asked with hard news as they would know what information the interviewer would want to be getting.

Structure of an Interview

Introduction

The introduction would normally be doing what the word says. It would be introducing the person the interviewer would be interviewing, so the audience would be able to understand and know what they are going to be watching.

They will say who the person normally is, they may put some statistics about the interviewee and what they would be mainly talking about. 

An example of this would be when you have channels on the television like MTV who have artists on their shows to talk about the latest single/album. They would say  something along the lines of  ‘In celebration of your new single/album we have some questions to ask you’

Developmental Building

These questions are normally light hearted as they would want to make the interviewee comfortable as they may be nervous. It may also help to get the interview started as they would then start to trust the interviewer. This will be able to set the tone for the full interview, which makes it a crucial stage.

Confidence Building

These questions are commonly asked to make the interviewee feel even more comfortable with the questions that may be asked further on in the interview. These would be asked most commonly before key questions in the interview.

Key Questions

These are the main and most important questions to be asked in an interview. In some cases, the interviewee may not be comfortable to open up with the questions that the interviewer may ask. This makes this stage most necessary as it can make the difference from a good/bad interview. They would mainly be direct and open questions so they interviewee would be able to deepen the answer fully as possible.

Sound-bites

Sound bites are like what you may see in a movie trailer for a film, or in a show which would have a series. It shows a small section of the interview which would have been chosen carefully. This would then be advertised for the public to see, to make the interview look good.

Summary

The summary is normally the question that would allow the interviewee to summarize their opinion on the subject that the interview would be on, or what would have been discussed in the interview. One way in what you may be able to tell that it is a summary question because it may be asked in the sense that it would in the future.

Wind-up (Conclude Interview)

The wind-up is the final part of the interview. Normally the interviewer will thank the interviewee for coming down today to wherever the interview is being held, and that would then be transformed into a conclusion. If the interview would have gotten heated when the questions were being asked, the interviewer may try to make the situation lighter by making a funny remark or a light hearted question to try and make peace with the interviewee; closing down what happened and the interview.

Communication skills                       

Building Rapport

Building rapport is down to the interviewer to do so. This normally happens because the interviewer would speak calmly to the interviewee, and then lead on to starting the interview. They may ask light heated questions which can allow the interviewee to feel closer to the interviewer which can affect how the questions are answered; it may also be able to get more in-depth answers from the interviewee.

Active Listening

In an interview, showing that you are an active listener it would allow the interviewer to maybe adapt the questions you already have to what the interviewee’s answer would have been to the previous question. The interviewee may be able to distinguish if the interviewer is listening to them based on the questions which they may follow with, which may lead to the interviewee to start feeling uncomfortable and their answers may not be to what the interviewer would want.

Body Language

Body language would be important to think of when you are conducting the interview from the start. This is because when the interviewee would walk into the room and sit down, they would feel energy off yourself and the way your body language is seen, it may transfer to the interviewee.

You would need to make sure that your body language is open and positive, and make sure that it would be maintained throughout the full interview. This will ensure that the interviewee would feel comfortable and therefore they may be more likely to open up to the interviewer.

Telephone Techniques

This helps when trying to gather information about the topic which it may be on. Normally the researcher will find people which you would be suitable to be interviewed. They would then go on to find a number they may be able to call them on, or any other contact details. They would use suggestive and open questions to see if the subject is a reliable one to use and if it is they would gather background information that can be used towards the news story.

Journalistic Contents

Print

Print interviews would commonly be found in magazines or newspapers. They would follow the style of interviews which would take place on radio or television but they cannot be heard or seen. This is harder for the audience to try and think how the interviewee may be feeling/what their body language is like.

Print interviews can take on many different stylings and it can be presented in many ways, but it would depend on the what magazine/newspaper it would be. These can seem more formal/informal, light-hearted and fun compared to serious. This would also depend about the subject of the interview.

As these interviews are not seen, they would normally have questions written down, but depending on the answers which the interviewee would be giving, it could change the direction of the interview.

Television

There are many different styles of interviews which can be broadcast on television. Political interviews typically consist of hard news and investigative content; these would commonly be seen on channels such as BBC and Channel 4. Light-hearted and entertainment interviews would commonly be shown on informal talk shows. These normally are made up of one host and multiple guests; an example of this is The Graham Norton Show or The Jonathon Ross Show. Promotional interviews could possibly appear in both investigative and entertainment interviews where it is dependent on the interviewer and how the promotion would be presented.

As with all interviews, it is important that information is gathered beforehand as it will allows the interviewer to gather in depth information on either the interviewee or the subject of the interview. As of the knowledge and understanding this allows the interviewer to become more confident in how they appear and how they put the questions across. As interviews on television are easier to observe facial expressions and body language, which you would not be able to find in print.

Radio

Radio interviews can be like television interviews as it can depend on what station it is on to what type of interview may be conducted. An example of this is that the more fun and light-hearted interviews would commonly be heard on BBC Radio 1. On the contrast, more interviews which would cover hard news would commonly be heard on BBC Radio 4.

Online

When using the internet, it can offer a new way to access interviews for the audience. You will be able to find print interviews online, in the case of magazines and newspapers as they would often also publish them on their website. By doing this, it allows a wider audience range which is able to reach the interviews. Television programmes may also have online websites where you could find the interviews online. An example of this is BBC iPlayer where it allows you a period of roughly 30 days since it is posted to watch it as a catch up.

Online social media websites such as YouTube can also have the ability to contain the interview online by maybe the said television or radio stations. This shows that online can grant such a wider audience; making it easier accessible than a magazine/newspaper due to the length it lasts.

News

Interviews which are conducted on the news normally consists of what the topics that they will be talking about on that day. Sometimes these can be repetitive day to day as it can depend on the scale of the issue, or it can be a one day topic. An example of one would be hard news which can consist of; law enforcement, eye witnesses on accidents or politics.

The most common reason these are conducted is to keep the audience updated and then inform them when they have further news. Throughout the years I would say that this way has become less used by the younger generation due to the use of online, but would be mainly the older generations which watch these.

Sport

When interviews are conducted at sports events, they are normally taking place before kick-off and after the game. One of the most common sports interviews you may see on television would be football as of the high coverage and high following that it has. Before the matches, interviewers would typically ask about their thoughts and feelings on how the game may go, and how they would want to maybe try and up their performance from the game before. The interviews which take place after the game focus more on the players of the match, and the managers on how they think the performance went. The presenters normally have running commentary when they have a break at half time, having a say on what they think of the match.

It is rare that you will see the losing team/ a player which may have had a bad game to be interviewed as they normally focus on the ceeleration,.

Purposes of Interviews

Research

Research is the most essential part to an interview. Depending on how much research you do, it can make or break an interview. If you as an interviewer go into the interview with a well-researched plan with what questions you’ll be asking and what you may not ask as you would also do research beforehand on the interviewee.

The more research you do, the more comfortable and confident the interviewer would be and that has more of an effect on the interviewee. The interviewee would be opening up more on the questions that are asked and they may even go into further details with their answers which would be a result for the interviewer. The opposite effect would happen if you did not do much research at all. The interviewee may be reluctant to answer in depth with the questions asked, meaning they may not open up at all and it would be a bad interview.

Enhancement of Audience Understanding

Before you would welcome the interviewee out, the person/people that may be interviewing would say some facts about the person they would be interviewing. They would most  likely say what they would be talking about in the interview, and key facts which the audience would like to know, so they are not going to watch the interview clueless.

Informational

Gathering information in an interview would be helpful to go towards enhancing the audiences understanding further. I would say that these are mainly used in political interviews. As of the different parties and what they are trying to get across, it would be informational to get all of these all across. It would also help to inform the audience as they may be confused and it will help them to gain understanding.

Interpretive

This is mainly where you would be able to see that they will express or explain their opinion. By opening up with your opinion your allowing the audience and the interviewer to interpret what you may be trying to say, to how you may be as  person (positive or negative) is some cases, depending on what the subject it about. 

This may lead to the interviewee to have to justify themselves; or the interviewer may give them room in the interview to justify what they have said. On the other hand, the interviewer has accountability to try and balance out the interview so it makes it unbiased and fair to how the interviewee would be represented.

It can help the interviewee to express what they wanted to in the first place in the right way as some people have issues sometimes with expression.

Emotional

This will allow the audience to gain insight about a situation. It may give a chance for the audience to see the interviewee in a personal and emotional light which they may not have seen before.

This type of news is normally shown when a disaster has just happened and what the effects of what happened could be to that situation. The audience should be able to connect to what is being talked about, maybe having some sympathy about what is going on; getting a connection with themselves and the interview taking place.