Interviewing Skills

The Basics
 Types of people

● Public person Talk about their

● Private person ● Thoughts

● Real person ● Dreams

● Hopes

● Beliefs
 Respect towards interviewee

Make your interviewee comfortable with you and

empathize

● They may have done things which are not good but bring

them up in a most civil manner

● Find common grounds to begin with

● Try to understand their point of view

 Relax

In front of your interviewee don’t intimidate him/her with

your knowledge or status

● Appearing to be ill informed is ok

● Stupid is ok

● You can’t know everything

 ● Make the interviewee
teach you

● Make them use simple

In short
and every day language

● Get human and

emotional answers
● THOROUGH RESEARCH
○ know your subject
● CHRONOLOGICAL
○ keep it sequential
● DON’T TALK TOO MUCH
○ Wait to get real answers
● ASK SIMPLE, PROBING QUESTIONS
○ ask one question at a time
○ ask open ended questions
 Location

● Location is everything

● Don’t make your interviewee just sit

● Show them working

● In their own environment

● Don’t take notes during the interview

 Ask TOUGH questions but

● NEVER INTIMIDATE or INTERROGATE your

INTERVIEWEE

● SHOW RESPECT AND EMPATHY

● Never be JUDGMENTAL towards them