Writing the questions

The best interviews aren't interviews at all, they're conversations. When your guest is relaxed you will get the best answers and from someone looking relaxed on camera. If you just have a list of disjointed questions your guest will feel more like they're trying out for a job than just having fun.

Watch the masters doing it on TV and even though the host has some questions prepared they are often delivered in a conversational style with a logical order and often interrupted by follow on questions that may not have been prepared at all.

The best skill any interviewer has is to listen. If all you're doing is thinking about the next question you might miss something important.

So when it comes to writing your questions do your research, make sure the questions are in an order that makes sense and keep the questions open. Nothing that can be answered with a 'yes or a 'no'.

The more relaxed your guest is, the better results you'll get on camera.

Are they sitting comfortably?

If you're asking someone questions it will be pretty obvious to the viewer, even if you're not on screen. So if your guest is looking straight at the camera, why are they not looking at you? That's just plain rude!

Let's go back to the TV chat show for a second. Where does the guest look when answering questions? At the person asking them. If they directed their answers to the audience or you at home that would look strange right?

If you're interviewing someone, they should be looking at you and your viewer becomes a 'third person' just watching you two chatting. We're so used to seeing TV interviews as a 'third person' that any other set up just looks odd.

Your set up should look like the beautifully crafted and prepared diagram below. Your viewer sees your world through the lens of your camera. So from their perspective they're sitting next to you while you ask the questions and just watching your guest in action. Much like an audiences' perspective on a TV chat show.

Having your guest look at you rather than the camera has the fringe benefit of helping your guest relax. If they're not confident talking to camera now they don't have to. They can ignore the camera entirely and just chat with you. Now that's much easier.

Answering questions

We've discussed a right way to ask the questions but there's a right way to answer them too. You'll want to mention this to your guest before you start.

If you're only filming your guest I'm going assume you don't want your questions appearing on the finished edit. So you'll need to make sure the answers will make sense out of context and you'll want to ensure your voice doesn't slip in accidentally.

You can achieve both of these things with a couple of simple instructions to your guest before you start.

1. Ask them to pause before answering each question. Just a breath will do. This stops them from accidentally talking before you've finished making the start of their answer unusable.
2. Ask them to paraphrase the questions. That way their answer will make perfect sense without your question appearing at all. For example if you ask them what their favourite biscuit is, you'll want their reply to be 'my favourite biscuit is a Custard Cream'. If they say something like 'oh I like Custard Creams', that will make no sense without your question first. Oh and we both know that Custard Cream is always the right answer don't we? The king of biscuits.

Hearing the answers

Sound is important of course but if you're filming this stuff on your phone it's easy to assume that the microphone on your phone will do the job. That may not be the case.

Smart phones are blessed with incredibly good cameras and incredibly bad microphones, They are designed for your voice to be no more than an arms length away. But when you're interviewing someone else, that won't be the case.

The further away your phone mic is from an audio source the more likely it will pick up other sounds. For example, if you're filming outside you'll have things like traffic and other people to contend with.

If you're inside, even in a quiet room you have to deal with room acoustics. The bigger and emptier a room is the more you will hear your guest's voice reflecting off hard surfaces in the room. Try recording yourself in a kitchen or bathroom and then your living room or bedroom and you will notice the difference. Hard surfaces reflect soundwaves, soft surfaces absorb them.

The best solution here is to invest in a microphone you can place closer to your guest. Lavalier mics are tiny microphones you can attach to a collar or jacket. These are the best options for an interview.



Take a look at the video below for more on this.

The rule of thirds

Finally a few words about the rule of thirds. Understanding this simple principal of film making will help to ensure your guest is framed properly and looks fab on camera.

You can click here for a full explanation on the rule of thirds or watch the video below.

Still a bit stuck?

If you still feel in need of some help, that's okay. I don't for a second expect you to become Michael Parkinson or Graham Norton after reading one blog.

So if you have more questions, need more help or want me to come and show you how. Press the button, a chat costs nothing. Well, a packet of Custard Creams would go down nicely.