Radio Interviewing for the Complete & Utter Newby

Interviewing done well is a valuable skill. You gain a real insight in to the lives of the interviewee.

Interviewing done badly is just frustrating for the listener. You desperately want the interviewer to ask a particular question and they don’t.

Or you desperately want to hear the interviewee’s answer but you can’t because they keep getting cut off.

It’s not an easy skill to develop by any means. Hopefully the following guide at least goes a little way to helping you get the most out of your radio interviewing experiences.

First things, first.

Wherever possible, gain some background (preferably ‘a lot’) about the subject and/or person you are about to interview as accurately and comprehensively as you can. It’s not always possible, of course. Sometimes you’re ‘thrown on the spot’ and have mere seconds notice before you’re live on air. The key thing is, if you CAN, do the research. It can easily be painfully apparent when you haven’t a clue what you’re talking about and the best insurance…  is your research. 

Introduce well…

Warmly welcome your interviewee and be sure to have a jug of water and glass available for them.

Introduce your subject with their name and where they’re from, followed by a little background information about them.

So you might lead in with a piece from a relevant news story, then say something like;

“Professor P.J. Rhubarb is an associate professor at the University of Red Rhubarb where he lectures on the ‘Pros and Cons of Rhubarb’. He has been studying rhubarb for 25 years and is a leading authority on the subject. Mr. Rhubarb, what do you think of today’s news reports that people in Southern Rhubarb are protesting against the laboratory disection of Rhubarb for medical research?”

You’ll notice in that somewhat ridiculous example, we didn’t ask him, “How are you today?” or ask him about the traffic on the way in to the studio, or the weather…

Rather, it’s best to get straight into your first topical and relevant question. That’s what people want to hear the answers to.

You hear that far too often on radio – people ask “…and how are you today?”  They respond, “well thank you”. Sigh. It seriously adds nothing at all to the conversation…

Your listeners can’t hear you nod or shake your head 

If you keep quiet, listeners can’t hear you when you nod your head in agreement with something the interviewee just said. Nor do they want to. You see, listeners are interested in your interviewees’ opinions and generally whether you agree or disagree doesn’t matter much to them.  So avoid saying ‘right’, ‘ok’, ‘righteeo’, ‘fair enough’, ‘absolutely’…  (you get the idea) after an interviewee answers you or by interjecting. Let them answer you, then simply ask them to expand or go onto your next question.

Once the interviewee finishes speaking don’t do this…

Never simply say, ‘have you got anything further to add?’ Doing so (a) makes it sound like you haven’t been listening, don’t know your subject or aren’t interested, and (b) could take the interview on a whole new tangent, particularly if it’s a politician or an interviewee with a particular barrow to push.  

Be funny but only…

Seriously, unless you know you’re funny - don’t try to be. It often backfires.

Know your demographics – your audience…

Be sure to know your audience and have empathy for their sense of what they want to listen to. The questions you ask the Prime Minister on a youth-oriented station are going to be different to the questions you’d ask on a station targeted at 45+ listeners.

Remind people who you are interviewing

Midway through the interview, or if it’s a longer interview then every five or so minutes, state again who you are speaking with. For example, ‘I’m joined today by Federal Minister for the Environment, Mr. Rupert Blogosphere’. You know yourself, how often have you tuned into an interview and are really keen to know who the interviewee is, but the interviewer doesn’t let you know. That drives me nuts. Especially true at the END of an interview!! 

Listen.

This is the most important thing above all else really. Listen carefully to the responses because it stands out like ‘the proverbial’ when you ask subsequent questions if they have already been answered – or in the context of a previous question your new question doesn’t make sense.
It’s actually a LOT easier said than done – to listen carefully, that is – because you’re also aware of what’s coming up, how long the interview is going for, and other studio-related activities. Yet it is singularly the most important skill to attain.

Generally speaking, especially when starting out, avoid bias in your interviews. Usually you just want the facts, or to hear your interviewees opinion – not to offer your own opinion on the subject matter at hand. Certainly the listening public want to hear from THEM, not YOU.  

Interview length

There is no rule that an interview should be of a certain length. The criteria however, is that the interview is entertaining. As long as it is entertaining and informative, that’s what matters.

Two more hints in this post to make mention of and they are worth always remembering as you go headlong into your broadcasting career:

1. If you haven’t got one already, develop a burning passion for being curious about people and the world around you.

2. Your subject is the star. Not you. You should almost be invisible in an interview, such will be the power of the questions you ask and the listening you display.

Any other comments you’d like to share?