interview skills

There are wide ranges of skills that you need to compose a successful interview. One of the many skills that you will need is asking both open and close questions, it doesn’t matter what the topic is or who you are interviewing you will need to ask open and direct questions. For example in one of the interviews that we looked at the Jon Snow interview with Vitaly Milonov, Jon used some open and closed questions for example ‘ do you know what is going on?” this is an open question asked to the interviewer giving him a chance to ask a more expandable answer and also gave him more freedom with his answer.

Another skill that you will need for an interview is knowing how deal with a difficult interviewee. If the interviewee doesn’t answer the question or starts to go off topic, you will need to know how to bring the interviewee back on to the topic. You could also repeat the question again or re-phrase the question this would be tackling the question from another angle. For example in the BBC correspondent interviews with Ed milliband , in this interview you could see that the interviewee was repeating his answer over and over again, I think what the interviewer could had been more persistent with his question or re-phrase his questions. 

Analysis Interview techniques

Analysis Interview techniques

Context

The importance of the interview was to get the opinion of someone from the country, and to understand why this country has created a law which interferes with human rights. In addition I think the interview served the importance of understanding why people from this country find people of the gay community to be so wrong.

Purpose of interview

The purpose of the interview was to enhance the audience understanding of the topic. To give the audience a deeper understanding of what someone from the Russian community thinks about the issue. The issue was about Russians illegalising public displays of affection and infatuations from the gay community if this rule was broken there would be serious consequences which may lead to death even. Furthermore to get the audience to have an understanding of what the actually issue is coming from an actual source. Another purpose of the interview was to get the opinion of the interviewee, to get his view of people of the gay community showing public affection in Russian and the consequence that could be brought to those of this community showing their fondness publically. In addition I also think a purpose of the interview was justification, for the interviewee to 

justify his accusations and views on this delicate issue.

Question types

Jon Snow askes his interviewee a different range of questions to abstract information from the interviewee. He uses tactics like suggestive questioning on the interviewee, Jon at some points in the interview askes direct questions instead he implies things to abstract information from the audience. For example he used the line ‘So what you are saying is…’ this is a good tactic to use on you interviewee, because for example if the topic that is being discussed is quite delicate you wouldn’t want to offend your interviewee by asking a full on direct questions so making implications would get around this problem. Furthermore I think Jon also used suggestive questions to make the interviewee to reflect or better yet think of what he was saying or accusing. Though this didn’t quit work with the interviewee as he was very head strong, this was a good type of question to ask.

Another tactic that Jon used in the interview was he asked open questions, he asked questions which the interviewee could expand and elaborate on to get more full on answers which answered the questions more detailed. In addition asking open questions is a good way to abstract more information from you interviewee about the chosen topic. Though his questions seem to get lost in the interview due to the interviewee being a bit full on and dominant in the interview. You could see that Jon was developing his questions by asking more direct questions such as Do you agree? By asking a direct question I think interviewee knew exactly what Jon was trying to get at and out of him.

In the interview Jon didn’t really ask multiple questions, however he used more singular questions rather than keeping the questions coming he singled out his questions to give his interviewee time to expand on his answers, I think by doing this he gave his interviewee time to think about the question and time to breath. When Jon wasn’t asking a question he was making general comments about the topic and about the public’s thoughts on the subject but also the impact.

Structure

In the interview there wasn’t an introduction to the person very much or to the topic so was very clear, what the interview was about so you had to pick up on things within the interview which reveal the topic. Instead of an introduction Jon opened with a quote/statement ‘Do you agree? He uses this starter to ease the interviewer into the serious topic about to be touched on. From this opening the interviewer then starts to develop and establish more of his questions trying to get to the heart of the topic. Towards the end of the interview Jon winds up the interview with a verbal cue saying ‘Okay we are going to wrap it up’, this is a polite way of Jon cutting off the interviewee and hinting that this is the end of the interview.

Communication skills

In the interview there was little communication that was going on but there was some sense of communication. Jon showed active listening skills by using hand gestures to show his understanding of the topic and nodding of his head to indicate whether he agreed or not with the interviewee’s comments or opinion. Also in the interview he had a very professional posture which indicated that this was a serious topic and not a conversation. In the interview Jon would lean forward or nod to put emphasis on his point. I also noticed that in the interview Jon was directly facing the interviewee; this was because the interview was held 

between two people so it was very direct and focused.

Telephone techniques to obtain comments or gather information

There wasn’t many telephone techniques used to obtain comments or gather information from the interviewee. But Jon would repeat his questions once or twice to the interviewee so that he could get the answer to his questions. Though the interviewee would either go off the topic or not answer the question Jon would repeated the question so that he could get the answer which he was looking for. Jon would also be quite persistent with his questions, when the interviewee would talk on or go off topic Jon would try to bring the subject back to the topic very often. His constant questions conveyed that he was bias on the topic you could see that he had an opinion of his own.

Observation- interviews

   Alan Carr Chattyman Miley Cyrus 

The interview that I looked at was conducted by Alan Carr Chatty man who interviewed Miley Cyrus. I looked at this particular interviewer because I like his tactic to get his interviewees to open up about their lives. The purpose of the interview was to get to know the new Miley that is being portrayed to the audience. He was also discussing about new events that has taken place with her and the news that is the talk of the celebrity world. Furthermore his primary purpose of the interview was to talk about her performance at the VMAs and the shock that it brought to the audience.

To make his interviewee feel comfortable Alan Carr first asks the interviewee how they are and have an actual conversation with the person because actually pilling on questions. Whilst watching this interview I also notice that Alan Carr asks his interviewee if they would like a beverage and if so which one. And over the beverages he makes little comedic jokes and comments to try to make the interviewee laugh and get them to relax and feel more comfortable. I think he tries to make the interviewee feel as if they are friends just having a normal conversation rather than a separation between who is the interviewer and the interviewee.

Once Alan Carr got past the pleasantries he then started to ask his questions. I did notice in between the questions he would again make jokes to convey a comedic atmosphere. At times he would make a joke then put his question in between his jokes or he would say ask his questions in a joke way.  He would also share his experiences to make the interview feel less like a actual interview and more like a conversation. I also notice that he would get Miley to expand on her questions by encouraging her to go on. He would also show his understand of the situation which I found made the interviewer feel obliged and want to go on about the topic. For example when Miley Talked about how the people at the VMA where shocked at her performance, Alan would assure her that she didn’t do anything wrong and that other artist where dressed more revealing such as lady gaga. In addition her would make the interviewee feel as if he is on their side in a way.

Alan Carr used a few conventions such as question that were open and closed. He also showed pictures and images for example he showed a picture of her VMA performance. He also had evidence of what he was saying for example when he was talking about how the person who invented the  foam finger responded to how she misused it, by telling the audience his statements. To close the interview i notice that Alan thank the artist for coming on his show making them feel as if their presence was appreciated. Also sometimes he would let the artist perform their latest song, giving them a chance to permute their work again making them feel as if their appearance on the show was and is valued. 

Context: The interview was conducted to talk to the well known artist Miley Cyrus, and find out about present events that have happened and to talk about her new look physically and artistic/musically. The importance of the interview was to get this new Miley to open up and tell the interviewer and the audience about events that have occurred and to get her outlook on this. 

Purpose: The primary purpose of the interview was to find out what has brought around this new Miley Cyrus which is being represented to the would with her new image in her music and her appearance. in addition it was to get juice on the latest gossip that was going on about her. 

Question Types: Their were a variety of question ties being asked. throughout the interview the interviewer asked open questions which the interviewee could expand on and extend. Closed questions were also used, to get more of a direct answer from the interviewee.  sometimes the interviewer would ask singular questions but at times multiple questions were asked like a follow up question. at the start of the show closed questions were asked to ease the interviewee into the more intense and full on questions. i think its also a good tactic to slowly getting your interviewee to open up. in addition the interviewer would also ask suggestive questions, he would do this so that he wouldn't appear to be on a particular side and to get the truth out. 

Structure: The show opened with an introduction, we had the interviewer introduce the artist to the show, ask them questions about themselves. to get the interviewee to feel more comfortable. then after the introduction the questions started to develop and open questions were started to be asked. I also realised that the interviewer would do a lot of confidence boosting or building to encourage the interviewee that they haven't done anything wrong. in addition the interviewer would also wind up the interviewer by saying who the artist in this case Miley cyrus and thank her for coming on the show. To show that he appreciated her presence on the show and making her feel valued. 

Communication skills: The interviewer did a lot of active listening, he would use his hands to emphasis on his point, to also act engaged in the conversation. the interviewers body language was also relaxed and laid back making the interviewer feeling more invited in and relaxed themselves. It also made the interview more informal and more similar to a conversation. in addition the interviewer builded up a rapport by asking the interviewee how she was, by smiling and offering her a beverage this builded up trust even though they aren't very familiar with one another doing these things builds up a ground of trust. 

Wendy Williams- Is Ciara Getting Married?

The second interview that i looked at was conducted by Talk show host wendy williams. The host was interviewing the well known RnB singer Ciara, to talk about her new debut single Body party and to also discuss the male playing in her music video. when observing this interview i realised that the host like Alan Carr introduces the guest and acquainting themselves with the interviewee providing their guest with compliments and comedic comments. 

after watching both interviews, i found that both interviewing techniques were effective. both interviews encouraged the interviewee to open up to the interviewer and talk about themselves. i did find that with the first interview that i looked with Alan Carr, the interview was conducted more as a conversation than anything else. Which makes the interviewee want to contribute the conversation and share about themselves. i also feel because Alan Carr was making lots of jokes and comedic comments it took the pressure of the interviewee and got them to relax more as well as made them feel more comfortable. But with the second interview it was more serious, though both shows were to serve the purpose of entertainment the second interview was more serious and felt more of an interview but also a conversation i would say that it had a 50/50 balance between the two.