Interview Zen

An interview can be a powerful way of telling a story or showing a side of a person that may be overlooked otherwise. Be sure to practice interviewing your friends and family as often as you can. The more you practice the art of the interview, the better you will be.

Creating a good interview is about story. Many things shape a story:
Interviewer (that's you)
Interviewee (the person you're interviewing)
Your topic
And even the location an interview takes place

Interviews can be done in many ways:
Email
Video recording
Audio recording
And the good old-fashioned pen and paper

Before you pick which kind of interview to do, think about your story.

Picking Your Topic & Getting an Interview

What interests you? Interests vary from person to person. You will know what you are interested in when you are involved in an activity and completely loose track of time. Video gamer players can play for hours, sometimes days, without even realizing it. They claim the time "flies by." People who writer for a living often have a moment of enlightenment and write non-stop, without thought of doing anything except committing that thought to the page.

1. Make a list of things that interest you. The list can be as long as you want.
a. EXAMPLE:
b. Sports
c. Science
d. Fashion
e. Gaming
f. Animation
g. Cars
h. History
i. Woodcraft
j. Films

2. Imagine yourself on a desert island, and you only do things that related to your topics. Circle 2 - 5 topics that you would want to do a lot.

3. For your chosen subjects make a new list of related topics that interest you.
EXAMPLE:
a. Animation
 i. Films by Hiao Miyazaki
1. Lead characters in his films
 ii. TV Shows on Nickelodeon
 iii. Script Writing
1. Making a TV show
2. Inventing a character


4. Think of some basic questions. Get a clear picture of what really interests you. You should be able to see the topic in your mind and instantly feel good about it. Think about your topic and write questions under each one.
5. Imagine you are interviewing a prominent figure in that filed and ask them what you most want to know, (what is great about this topic).
a. Miyazaki Films
 i. "What was your inspiration for the character San?"
 ii. "Did Spirited Away get the kind of attention you wanted it to have
 iii. How was producing My neighbor Totro different from Kiki's Delivery Service?

6. Brainstorm: Who knows about these topics? There are many organizations, fan clubs and websites related to your topic. These places can be a wealth of information before you conduct an interview. Your goal is to find a person to interview who is appropriate to your topic. This does not have to be the head of the company/organization, (sometimes "not-so-famous people" are easier to contact and may provide a point of view that is not yet covered by the media.)

Take your topic and do an online search. Look for popular sites about your topic. (What are other enthusiasts talking about?)

For each website that is helpful, list:
URL
What you find interesting and or useful
Contact information (Home/Cell/Office Phone, email, IM, Skype etc)
Contact information is out there. Often it is in an "About Me" at the bottom of a website. You can sometimes type a name, topic and "contact" into a web search and find contact info.
www.whitepages.com can be a good resource.
To obtain contact information about the owner of a website, go to http://www.networksolutions.com/whois
If you don't have the phone number of the person you want, find the next best one. Often a receptionist or listed contact can put you a step closer to your desired contact point.

7. Know your subject. Once you find a potential interviewee, get to know them if possible. Study them, look at their websites, blogs, books and any other information you can find about them. Learn as much about them as you can before an interview.
a. Develop your questions. Instead of questions that require one word answers, look for open-ended questions. Give your interviewee a chance to talk by giving them a well thought out/researched question.

8. Decide what type of interview you need.  Is your subject/story something that can be easily covered in a well-worded email interview, or written document? Your subject may be complicated and best shown through written explanation. However, your subject may require a lot of hands-on, fast paced content that lends itself easily to video. Some subjects are best told in a Pod Cast or radio format, in which audio is the medium of choice. Your medium is your message, so choose one that lends itself best to your story.
9. Send your questions to the interviewee before the interview. If you are doing a live audio or video interview, try sending 5 - 15 questions. Let them know this is the "direction" you see the interview taking, and that it may change. Ask them if there are any other questions they would like to add.
10. Schedule and conduct your interview. Once you have a time and place for your interview make the interviewee as comfortable as possible. If it is a live interview, have water bottles out for them. Thank them for doing the interview and taking the time out of their lives to invest in furthering democracy through communication, (or something along these lines). Remind them of the readers/viewers and how grateful they will be to learn more about this subject or the interviewee. If the atmosphere is right, ask some "starter questions." How was the drive here? Would you like some water? If you are comfortable, talk about yourself and let them get to know a little about you. Once you are ready, ask the questions.
a. Relax. (If it's a live interview) Speak naturally and make eye contact. Take notes, you may think of new, topic related questions
as they talk.
b. Go with the flow, (as long as it's a good story). The interviewee may show particular interest in one of your questions/topics. This is a good way to find out unique facts other interviews may have never discovered.
c. Let the interviewee speak. Once they've "answered your question" they may still have more to say.
d. Once you are out of questions, ask if there is anything else they would like to ad.
e. Thank them for the interview but leave the camera/audio recorder rolling. Many times the interviewee will relax and start talking more. This is a great time to collect the heart of a story.