Brand Toolkit

Be clear about your objectives

Do you know what you want your article or feature to be about? Keep that in mind. You often have a short time with someone, so keeping the questions relevant is important. If your objectives are in mind, it allows you to adapt your questioning during the interview should they something particularly interesting or relevant, or go off on a tangent.

Get to know a little about the person you’re planning to interview

Knowing who they are and what they do can help you to ask questions that are relevant. You don’t need to know everything about a person before you meet them. And in some cases (interviewing students, for example) it may be difficult, or considered inappropriate, to conduct research in advance. Often they’ve been recommended to you for a reason. If they are a member of staff or an alumnus then you can see what information is available on the University’s website or the alumnus’ own website.

Decide how you will record the interview

Most phones have a built-in voice recorder and this is often the simplest way to record the audio. But you may wish to have a back-up such as a dictaphone. Check – does it have batteries that work and are charged? Have a spare set to hand. Are the levels set so that it will pick up everything that is said? Do you have enough space left on the memory card for the whole interview? It's also possible to record your audio on a laptop via Zoom or Teams.

Think about where you’d like to conduct the interview

A quiet, private space is best, as too much background noise will distract you all and will make the recording difficult to listen to. Agree a date and time with your interviewee. Face-to-face is preferred.

Prepare some questions

Remember to think about what you want to know about the person and why you are interviewing them, as well as what you already know about them. Having the questions written down will help you to keep the interview going and fill any awkward silences. It will make sure that you don’t forget anything that you need to know, and it will also help you to make it easy for the interviewee to say the things that will be useful and relevant to why you are conducting the interview in the first place.

Do you also need a photograph of them?

Think about whether you will also need a photograph of them for the article. You can ask them to send you any across they may have while you’re talking to them about setting up the interview. If they're not suitable, you could arrange for a photographer to come along after the interview. Don’t try and do both at the same time. People can get very nervous with a camera around. But a professional picture will make your article even better!

A good question will be short, friendly, and open ended. Try not to ask a question that could result in a simple yes or no response. There are various ways of asking questions that enable people to talk around a subject, rather than closing off what they can say. Here are some examples:

• “I notice that you studied English literature and mathematics, which seems unusual. Can you explain to me why you wanted to study these topics?”
• “Can you talk to me about how Bill Gates found out about your research project and what happened next?”

Sometimes, you may wish to elicit a response that is short in order to generate a soundbite for a publication or website. A good way to do this is to ask the interviewee for three words to sum up something. Of course, quoting three words on their own with no context will mean nothing to a reader, so ask your interviewee to repeat part of your question back to you at the start of their response.

Example:

• “Can you give me three words to describe your experience at the University? It’d be great if you could start your answer by saying, ‘My time studying at Glasgow was…’”
• “Can you give me one word to sum up how you felt on graduation? It’d be helpful to me if you could start the sentence by saying, ‘When I first left the University, I felt …’”
• “Can you complete this sentence for me? My time at the University helped me in my career by…’”

Ask questions, even though you may know the answer

You should still ask questions you already know the answer to. You want to hear them talk about that answer in their own words. Your interviewee might say something far more interesting or engaging than what you thought you already knew about them. Or they might mention something that leads on to a new, more interesting line of questioning.

Don’t feel you have to stick slavishly to your questions

This is a conversation, after all. Feel free to react to what is said in the interview and use the information that the person is telling you to formulate other relevant questions as you go along. Have pen and paper handy in case something occurs to you that isn't on your list, while your interviewee is in full flow.

This, of course, means that you will have to listen to what your interviewee is saying, while they are saying it. It seems an obvious thing to say, but it’s easy to spend your time looking at your questions and firing them at the person. 

Face-to-face communication is preferable

It’s worth the effort and time to conduct the interview face-to-face. The responses you get will be more natural, personal and often more truthful and engaging. After all, it’s just having a chat with someone.

And yet, when people are asked for an interview they can become wary. They may suggest that it’s quicker to conduct this communication by email. If it’s possible though, do it face-to-face.

Zoom interviews if face-to-face isn’t possible

A Zoom interview is a second option if you can’t meet the person face-to-face. It’s not as natural as in person, but better than by email. An interview via Teams, or by phone, is also possible – just make sure you know in advance how you can record the audio for each of these options.

• Tip: It helps some people to see the questions in advance so they have time to think about their answers, so it's good to offer this service.

Email is a good back-up if the interviewee is in a different time zone

In some cases, it may be necessary for you to conduct an interview over email. Your interviewee may be really unwilling to meet face to face. They may be based overseas. You can send them a list of questions and ask for a response. Give them a date to reply by, or it can get lost in a sea of emails.

Recording the interview

To keep your attention on the flow of the interview, it's advisable to record the audio rather than take notes (unless you are competent in shorthand). Use a recording device – probably your phone, but possibly a dictaphone, or by recording a Zoom session on your laptop. Automatic transcription may be available depending on the method you use, but for accuracy and reliability it is recommended that you use a transcription service to transcribe the interview into a text file for you. It is quick and reasonably cheap to do. 

Note: Always let the interviewee know at the start that you are recording them, and what you plan to do with the recording. If you are recording it purely for notes, then let the person know it’s only for that. If you plan to use clips or any part of the recording, let them know this is your intention so they can agree to that. 

Once you’re confident that you’ve got what you need, get the interviewee to sign a media consent form to say that they’re happy for the University to use their information for marketing purposes. Thank them for their time and always offer to show them the finished article before it is printed or launched online, so that they have the opportunity to make changes to the text if they wish.

Start by briefly explaining who you are

Let them know who you are and why you’re interviewing them.

Be discreet about your recording method

Let your interviewee know you are recording them, but once you've placed your phone, laptop or dictaphone close to them – on a table between you is ideal – leave it alone for the rest of the interview and concentrate on what your interviewee is saying. If you hold a device in someone’s face, it can be very off-putting for them.

Likewise, don’t wave a list of questions around either. Keep your questions to hand, but try not to constantly look at them. It’s far better to look at the person you’re speaking to. If you can, develop the habit of glancing down to see your next question at a point when your interviewee is looking away from you.

Use friendly gestures

Nod so they know you’re listening, make eye contact and smile occasionally.

Let them talk

Stay quiet and let them talk and finish what they may want to say. Don’t jump in with a new question while or interject with “yeah” or “I see” etc. This can interrupt the flow of their answer.
Note: If you plan to use the audio for soundbites, this is particularly important.

Make notes of things to come back to

If the interviewee mentions something that you don’t understand in the middle of a long explanation, jot it down and remember to ask them to explain further about that point once they have finished answering your original question.

Leave a gap after their answer

Leave a small gap after an interviewee has seemingly finished answering a question before you ask the next one. People naturally rush to fill in any gaps, and the interviewee may say something better or more succinct than what they said before in that small, inviting gap. Some people will naturally want to summarise what they’ve just said.

Be aware of different types of people

Preparing questions in advance is a good idea so that you can be sure to get the ball rolling without too much awkwardness. Everyone is different. In some cases, you may find that you only need to ask one question before an interviewee will chat quite happily, moving on to new topics without any intervention on your part. Other people will need to be guided towards information that you’d like to hear. And some will choose not to look at questions in advance but to answer spontaneously in the moment.