ESOL News Network--How to Do an Interview

"How to...Do an Interview"

BEFORE THE INTERVIEW

A good interviewer does research on the person being interviewed and the topic before the interview. The interviewer might collect facts from sources at the media center and from other people, such as those who work directly with the person being interviewed, other students or teachers.

After collecting as much background information as possible, the writer should prepare a list of questions for the interview. It is usually better to organize the questions from the easiest (who, what, when and where) questions to the hardest (why and how). The interviewer needs to take the questions, a pencil/pen and a note pad to the interview. Take a tape recorder if one is available.

DURING THE INTERVIEW

A good interviewer should take good notes--write the most important words without writing too much detail. The interviewer should get at least two or three quotes. Quotes are the direct words used by the person being interviewed. These quotes add interest to the story when it is written. Ask the person who is being interviewed if a tape recorder can be used. This will help in getting and remembering the best quotes.

The interviewer has to be a good listener. Sometimes a question might pop up in the interviewer's head that is not one of the original questions. The interviewer should ask the question and then go back to the original questions after writing down the answer. Before leaving the interview, the interviewer should ask if he or she can contact the person being interviewed for further questions if it is necessary. Finally, the interviewer should thank the person being interviewed for his or her time.

AFTER THE INTERVIEW

While the information is still fresh in the interviewer's mind after the interview, he or she should immediately write a draft of the interview. The longer the interviewer waits, the easier it is to forget! The draft does not have to follow the order in which the questions were answered. The writer determines the most interesting way to write the story. If something is not clear, the interviewer should feel free to contact the person who was interviewed to get the information right.

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