How to conduct an interview
Step 1: Prepare your questions beforehand.
Before you conduct your interview, draft up a list of questions beforehand. Good questions are ones that are open-ended, rather than questions that can be answered with a simple “Yes/No.”
Step 2: Send an email to your interviewee to schedule a time to meet.
Your editor will provide you with the contact information you need. From there, you should contact the individual and offer times when you are available to meet.
Step 3: Attend the interview with a recording device and a notebook.
To ensure you capture accurate facts and quotes, make sure that you record the interview but also jot down notes in your notebook to flag important points from the conversation.
Step 4: Using your recording device.
Place your device (ex. cellphone) on the table, turn on the recording function, and ask your subject if you have their permission to record the interview. This way you have their response on the record. From there, simply allow the device to record for the duration of the interview. Turn the recording device off once the conversation has ended.
Step 5: Transcribe your interview.
To ensure accuracy, listen to the recording and transcribe the interview in a word document before you write your article.
Step 6: Write your article.
When quoting the interviewee, make sure that you identify the subject with either their position at UTM (professor etc.) or their year and program of study. For example, “…says Jane Doe, second-year history major.”
