The interview

I  have moved to Brussels, Belgium. I will be working as an intern reporter for Reuters TV, mostly reporting on the European Union.

This will depart from the on the road story chasing style of reporting at KOMU 8 News in Columbia, Missouri. Instead interviews with political figures will be the major focus of my work. This warrants review of interviewing tips.

Ask short sharp questions. If you can’t phrase your question or the focus of your story in a short sentence, you probably don’t understand it, or the topic is too wide.

Moreover, silence is golden in an interview. Silence is especially in a TV interview where your gratutious ‘ahhs’ and ‘okays’ kill potential sound bites. Nod your head and keep eye contact with your interviewee to show you are listening. 

Listen to your interviewee’s answers and respond with questions to their answers. Also, always get clarification to what your interviewee said. Don’t assume they meant something by what they said. Ask if you are not sure. Build up your 

Get interviewees to speak their own words. Don’t recite the work of a poet you are interviewing. Get the source to say the poem. They will be able to read it much better, putting emphasis in the right place.  This makes it more interesting and informative for the audience.

Your equipment needs to be second nature so it is not distracting during interview. Set up everything before the interview starts so you can go straight into your questions. Then, while asking your questions, glace at the camera to ensure your interviewee is framed and lit correctly and you are getting good sound.

You might not be interested in a topic or a person. But this doesn’t mean other people aren’t interested in it, or that it doesn’t affect many people.