Art of the Audio Essay
Winter 2008, Sections 21 and 31

Tips for Interviewing

Before the Interview

1. Test and get comfortable with your equipment and have extra batteries, headphones
2. Avoid unwanted noise ambiance (hard surfaces, air conditioners, etc.). A good room has lots of sofas, carpeting, noise-absorbers.
3. Avoid interviewing subjects with a desk between you. 
4. Turn your equipment on when you go in, and turn it off only after you exit the building.
5. Decide how present you want your own voice to be. If you want it in, be prepared to move the microphone between yourself and the interviewee.
6. Turn off your cell phone and keep recording equipment away from magnets, appliances, motors—anything that might create line noise. 

In the Interview

1. Get your subject comfortable—briefly describe the project, yourself, your motivations, and be informal in tone and with equipment. 
2.  Make it clear that interruptions are ok, that they can repeat, rephrase, revise what they say.
3. Always wear headphones.
4. Always keep the mic between 4”-6” from the subject’s mouth. 
5. Keep eye contact and minimize the presence of the equipment—don’t place in between you and subject, if possible.
6. To avoid plosives and sibilance, place the microphone below the chin or off to the side.
7. Don’t interrupt subject, avoid making noises, and allow for silences.
8. Give visual cues that you are interested, want to know more, etc. instead of verbal interruptions.
9. Get an interviewee walking, moving to make them more comfortable.
10. Ask interviewees to respond to opposing stances you might raise in the essay.

The Questions

1. Prepare lots of questions, but memorize them as much as possible so you don’t read off of a script.
2. Get “explaining tape”—their name, position, even where you are if relevant
3. Rephrase questions to get good quotes.
4. Ask concrete questions before analytic ones—“who, what, where, when” questions before “how, why” questions—so that subjects provide concrete information and narrative.
5. Prompt your subjects to tell a story, an anecdote that dramatizes the issue, either about themselves or about something relevant to the topic.
6. If appropriate, toward the end, ask subject to respond to your hypothesis.
7. Especially for long-winded answers, rephrase and repeat your question—this gives the subject a chance to be more succinct and concrete. 

After the Interview

1. Write down what folder/track the interview is recorded in.  
2. Take notes or record your own impressions of the interview and the scene right after the interview. 
3. If possible, record some room tone (ie, the room’s silence) for mixing.