This document provides guidance on preparing for and conducting interviews. It emphasizes focusing questions on a specific story, asking open-ended questions about people's actions and experiences, avoiding biased or leading questions, asking for clarification if confused, planning follow-up questions, and doing research ahead of time. The last question should always allow the subject to add anything else before concluding. Proper preparation and being polite and interested are most important for a successful interview.

1. INTERVIEWING 101:
PREP & QUESTIONS
COMM 106: MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM

2. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
KNOW YOUR STORY!
What is the specific
story you want to tell?
This focus is what forms
the basis for all your
questions!

3. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
Always be clear as to
what you want/expect
out of your interview
subject – if you don’t
know, how can they?

4. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
1. Ask about the
person’s actions; what
do they DO?:
 If you can get people to describe their
actions rather than their beliefs about
themselves, you’ll see a clearer picture
of them, one unmarred by slogans.

5. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
2. Ask “forward”
questions:
 “The ‘What’s the best part of the next
thing you’re doing?’ question will engage
your subject’s current, forward-looking
energy. You get a more excited
interviewee, who wants to tell you what
she or he is into.
 But be careful not to be completely

6. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
3. Ask open-ended
questions:
Do NOT ask questions that can only
be answered with a “yes” or “no”.
To avoid “closed-ended” questions,
focus on using “How” and “Can you
tell me about…” questions.

7. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
 How a usual, boring interview might go:
 Interviewer: “How are you?”
 Interviewee: “Good.”
 Interviewer: “So, where did you grow up?”
 Interviewee: “Boston.”
 Interviewer: “How long did you live there?”
 Interviewee: “Five years.”
 The problem is that the interviewer only
asked closed-ended questions, which didn’t
allow for any interesting answers.

8. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
 Good interviewers know to use open-ended
questions instead, which tend to elicit much more
interesting answers. Words and phrases such as
“How,” “Why,” “What do you think,” “What was it
like,” and “Tell me about” are good open-ended
question starters. Here’s another example:
 Interviewer: “Tell me about where you grew up?”
 Interviewee: “I grew up just outside of Boston in
Newton Center, Massachusetts. We lived in a two-
family home – we had the bottom floor, and the
owners had the top floor. It was a great place to
grow up – we had a backyard to run around in and a
big, spooky basement where we played for hours.”

9. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
 Interviewer: “What was it like to have your landlords living
above you?”
 Interviewee: “I didn’t think anything of it at the time. I guess
my parents knew they had to be on their best behavior – the
Furmans were an older couple and liked it when things were
quiet.”
 Interviewer: “Why did your family leave Boston?”
 Interviewee: “My Dad got a promotion, so we moved to
Washington, DC when I was 11.”
 Interviewer: “What was that like for you, entering a new
school when you were at that age?”
 Better, right? So think of an “interview” as a conversation with
someone where you begin every question with “How,” “Why,”
“What do you think,” “What was it like,” or “Tell me about.”

10. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
4a. Do NOT ask biased
or leading questions:
 An example of a biased/leading question is,
"It's OK to smoke around other people as
long as they don't mind, right?" or "Is your
favorite color red?" A question that favors a
particular response is an example of a
biased question.

11. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
4b. Do NOT ask biased
or leading questions:
 A biased question could also be one
that reveals how YOU personally feel.
For instance, “Why do you do the
horrible things you do?” or “You really
hate women, don’t you?” Your job is
NOT to judge – it’s to investigate and
inform!

12. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
4c. Do NOT ask biased
or leading questions:
 HOW you ask a question could also
reveal your personal bias. For instance,
your tone of voice or body language
may communicate to your subject that
you’re angry, mistrustful, or just plain
bored.

13. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
5a. Don’t be afraid to ask
“dumb” questions:
 If you’re confused, don’t move along to
the next question. Ask for clarification,
even if you’re afraid you might sound
“stupid”. You don’t want to realize later
that you don’t know what you’re talking
now about because you were confused
during the interview.

14. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
5b. Don’t be afraid to ask
“dumb” questions:
 You also don’t want to get the facts,
intended meaning, or context wrong
because that would be neither fair nor
accurate to your subject or your
consumers.

15. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
6. Ask short questions:
Don’t pack all your questions into
one super-mega question - split it up
into two parts.
NO question should be over 10
words long
You should always write at least 10
questions for your subject(s)

16. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
7. Don’t forget to
prepare/plan
for/anticipate follow up
questions:
Follow-up questions can be key;
they often lead to an interview
achieving a flow of communication

17. PREP FOR INTERVIEW: QUESTIONS
8. Do plenty of research
on your subject ahead of
time and write more
questions than you think
you’ll need!
 It’s always better to be TOO
prepared than underprepared!

18. INTERVIEWING 101: QUESTIONS
8. Last Question For The
Subject:
Last question of any interview
should always be = “What else
would you like to talk about
before we wrap up?” This is not
only respectful, it can often lead to
other stories.

19. INTERVIEWING 101
#1 Rule:
BE
PROFESSIONAL,
POLITE, AND
INTERESTED

20. INTERVIEW EXERCISE: BLACKBOARD
 BY NEXT CLASS: Complete the
Blackboard Interview Exercise/Quiz using
the guidelines as discussed in class
 BE SPECIFIC AND CLEAR AND DO NOT
TAKE A GENERAL APPROACH WITH
THESE QUEASTIONS - you are
interviewing them for a specific reason! 
 NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED FOR FULL
CREDIT

21. INTERVIEWING 101
INTERVIEWING EXTRAS
Mike Wallace: Classic
Interviewer
Top 10 Most Controversial
Interviews
Funniest Live Interviews (2017)