The interviewee:
“Great stories happen to those who can tell them.” - Ira Glass
Everyone has a story. Some people will make for a better interview than others. When choosing your interviewee, it might be tempting to go for a big name. However, that person may be incredibly boring. When looking around for your interviewee, make sure you pay just as much attention to “how” they tell the story, as you do to “what” the story is. You’ll thank yourself later.
On that note - a good story has a narrative arc to it. There is the attention getter: “why do we care about this.” There is rising action, as the details of the story become clear and suspense builds…”what is going to happen next?!” The story climaxes with its “a-ha!” moment, and then comes the most important part. We learn “what is universal about this story we just heard?” How can others relate to this story, or what can they learn from it.
When you make initial contact with your interviewee, be professional. Introduce yourself, your involvement with our course, and why you’re contacting them. Do any preliminary research you can about the interviewee and be prepared!
For the actual interview, make sure you have all the equipment you need prior to the start, and double-check everything to make sure it’s working properly. Allow yourself 30-45 minutes to chat (in the final product, you’ll edit this down to 5-10 minutes). Ask the person to speak slowly and clearly. Ask appropriate follow-up questions if they start to go off topic or drone on. Find their story and be fascinated by it!
After the interview is done, followup with a handwritten thank you card - send it the day after you record the interview. And when you have your final copy, invite your interviewee to our last class, or offer to share the audio copy with them.
Software:
You are welcome to use any software you’re comfortable with. I use the iMovie program, that comes standard on all apple computers. Ignoring the visual component (or setting a black screen as the default for the duration of the project), I cut and paste the interview audio, with my own narration (you can use the computer's built-in mic), and any music files I want to utilize throughout the program.
Recording Device:
You can get a great, basic, audio recorder by downloading the TASCAM PCM Recorder app to your smartphone. Familiarize yourself with the app prior to your actual interview (for example - have someone listen on headphones, while you are recording, to insure your levels are set appropriately). You can upload the audio file from your phone to a computer for editing.
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