Interview Techniques

There are a range of different interview techniques. These consist of types of questions, styles of interviews, structuring of interviews and the communication skills involved. These are what I will be talking about throughout this post.

Types of questions

There are two main types of questions and these are open and closed questions, and direct and suggestive questions.

Open question are ones where they can be answered freely and with a variety of answers whereas closed questions are usually restricted to yes and no answers. Open questions are useful in interviews to make it seem like a conversation and it keeps it going. They give a more relaxed feel to the interview, making the interviewee feel more comfortable and allows them to open up more. However, closed questions could make the setting feel awkward and very staged as it will be one question after another. This may make the interviewee feel as though the interviewer is reading from a list of questions and don’t know how to conduct an interview well or that they may be new to the job.

Direct questions are ones where you ask someone what you want to know in a way that may seem like you’re interrogating them. Suggestive questions are those where the answer is implied. For example, if you were getting to know someone, a question that you could ask them is “When you were younger, what did you want to be when you were older?” This question can give a wide variety of answers, each one being different from person to person.

Interview Styles

There are four different interview styles. These are hard news, entertainment, promotional and investigative.

Hard News

Hard news interviews are normally short and to the point whilst also getting as much information as possible. They deal with important facts or opinions.

Key information to take note of when conduction a hard news interview is:

·         Difficult questions must be asked to be able to show others how you react under pressure and to see if you can think on your feet

·         Make the questions short and concise to get straight to the point

Good questions to ask within hard news can be:

• ·         When did it happen?
• ·         What about the direct affects?
• ·         What is the amount of damage caused?

These questions depend on the situation can be a good starting point.

Tips and tricks for this type of interview:

• ·         Structure the questions you’re going to be asking
• ·         Have a strong lead
• ·         Provide quotes throughout the interview
• ·         Make your interviewee feel comfortable

Investigative

Investigative interviews are typically used in policing to find out information from suspects that is unknown at that time. This helps to direct an investigation, support a prosecution and help restore the public’s faith in the force.

Some helpful tips to consider when conducting this type of interview are:

• ·         Asking for clarification
• ·         Repeating any misunderstood questions back to be sure it’s correct
• ·         Rephrase and repeat avoided questions
• ·         Reminding the interviewee that they are under caution (in terms of police interviews)

Interview Structuring

There are six main parts to the structuring of an interview which are the introduction, developmental questions, confidence building, key questions, soundbites and the summary and wrap-up.

Introduction

The introduction is the most important part of an interview because the way that you present yourself and the way that you speak to the interviewee will set the attitude of the whole interview, as well as the impression you will be setting for the interviewee.

Developmental Questions

Developmental questions are those where your original questions can then produce another question from the answer given so that the interview seems more like a conversation rather than a set of question.

Confidence Building

Confidence building when interviewing someone is asking the interviewee a random question that is still relevant to the topic at hand. This makes them feel more comfortable, allowing them to open up more rather than being reserved.

Key Questions

Asking key questions allows you to get the information that you want by getting straight to the point. By asking a few questions, your interviewee won’t get annoyed and will carry on the interview as there will be a mix of different types of questions asked.

Soundbites

A soundbite is a small section that has been cut out from the whole of the interview. They can be cut to give us the most important and most relevant information to advertise the interview. Clips can then be further used for videos that may be made later on for voice overs.

Summary and Wrap-Up

The summary and the wrap-up allows the interviewee to know that the interview is over and then summarise what has been said throughout. This can be important for someone they may be deaf as it could be then posted online in a written form so that people are able to read the interview as well as being able to watch it.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are very important when conducting an interview. Without them, the interview would fail or wouldn’t take place at all.

Building Rapport

Building rapport is important to be before and after an interview. Building it before hand allows the interviewee to become comfortable around you as you know what you will be talking about during the interview. The main reason why we build rapport is to make to other person presume that you both think along the same lines.

Active Listening

Active listening shows the interviewee that you are listening to every word that they are speaking and that you are really taking in what they are saying.

Body Language

Having the correct body language is important to make the interviewee feel comfortable and relaxed in the setting that they are in. having the correct body language results in them showing a respectful body language in return.

Telephone Techniques

Some interviews have to be taken over the phone due to a variety of different reasons. However, with phone interviews, we have to make sure of a couple of things. One of these is building the same rapport as you would if you were face-to-face so that they feel comfortable to answer your questions and feel comfortable with the interview in general. We also need to make sure that we keep level-headed and calm throughout the interview as it helps them to remain calm and comfortable and influences them to answer the questions in more detail than they may have done to just anyone. It is important to not go over the top with questions or with your tone of voice as it can make the interviewee feel scared and that they don’t want to continue with the interview. The final thing is to not make the questions too generic and make them unique so that it is something that they haven’t been asked before or so that it isn’t similar to what they have been asked before.