ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW II:Preparation of the Interview, Language

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Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

LESSON 25

ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD INTERVIEW II

Preparation of the Interview

Short, single idea question

Question must be short and clear ---to be understood by both, listeners and the interviewee. One question

must carry one idea so that the interviewee feels comfy while arranging his words to be uttered in the

answer of that question.

Bad Example

Referring to your answer to the previous question, what I gather is that you yourself don't see eye to eye with the illegal settlers

on the railway land but owing to different reasons perhaps you are likely to give in to them. It is also said that there is a kind of

mafia, I mean, a kind of pressure group that is trying to maneuver the situation. In these circumstances what policy will you go

for getting the settlers to vacant the railway land?

Now in the construction of this question there are turns and twists and the interviewee is likely to get

confused. On the other hand the listener will also get lost on this winding question. Instead of getting so

verbose, the reporter is required to get simple and to-the-point.

Good Example

In the all bitter circumstances which you have explained, which policy will you adopt to make the illegal settlers vacant the

land?

Logical Progress from point to point

The flow of the conversation between interview and interviewer must be logical and natural. Every next

question must have a link with the answer of the previous question. Following this strategy, the interviewee

will not derail and the listeners will move with the interview smoothly and they will not find any jump in the

progress of the interview.

Avoid double questions

At one time only one question must be asked. Making the interviewee face more than one question will

certainly confuse him and he will not be able to answer properly even one question. The listener will also

forget the first asked question.

This rule, however, doesn't apply to actuality type interview. The reason being is, in actuality interview the

reporter's voice is taken out from the final production and the interviewee's answers are required to be in

detail and without more interruptions.

Questions must be relevant to the topic

The reporter must not beat about the bush and he is required to be to-the-point. Relevant questions will

keep the interviewee on the track and the listeners will not get bored.

Leading questions must be avoided

The questions which lead the interviewee to a certain conclusion are called leading questions. It becomes

obvious from the questions that the reporter is trying to give the words of his own choice into the mouth of

the interviewee. By putting leading questions sometimes reporter appears to be biased as well that spoils his

image in the minds of the listeners. It shows biasness.

Questions with statements

At times it is necessary to give some background information before the reporter puts a question. The

question and statement must be noticeably distinct from each other.

Radio News, Reporting and Production MCM515

Out-of-date questions

Don't mention days & times while framing questions.

Interviewer's knowledge

The interviewer's knowledge about the topic of the interview must be up dated otherwise he may have to

cut a sorry figure during the course of the interview.

Repeating the answer in the next question

An interviewer must avoid repeating the answer of the interviewee in the next question. He, however,

frames his question from the information given by the interviewee in his answer to the previous question or

questions.

Audience

While framing the questions an interviewer must have a precise knowledge about the audience he has to

conduct interview for.

If the listeners are general then the questions must be easy and simple but if the target audience are

specialized then he has the option to make the overall impression of the interview specialized. The subject

of the interview must be of the interest of the audience.

Language

The language employed by the interviewer while conducting interview must be:

Easy

Spoken

Terms & Jargons used by interviewee are to be explained by the interviewee.

Requisites of an interviewer

The interviewer:

Must appear interested in the task.

Must not impress the interviewee.

Dress up in a proper way.

Check & recheck the tape recorder, microphone and batteries.

Do not forget to have at least one cassette more than he thinks he need.

Must avoid advancing any opinion or value judgment

Do not say "I think it is so." But say "It might be so." or "People think---"

Always have eye-to-eye contact with the interviewee.

Draw as much information as is necessary.

Avoid tag or leading questions. "You enjoy playing England, don't you?"

Avoid asking cliché questions. "How do you feel on your husband's death?"

Must ask open-ended questions.

Ask "What is this?" (open-ended question)

Do not ask "Is this an apple?" (close-ended question)

Ask "Where do you sell your products?" (open-ended question)

Do not ask "Do you sell your products in local market?" (close-ended question)

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