Interview

Interview

An interview allows you to conduct a person-to-person discussion through the carefully structured use of questions and answers. A well-constructed interview can reveal the interviewee’s thoughts and feelings on important issues. Interviews can be formal such as a job or college interview, but they can also be informal (relaxed and personal).

  • Use a semi-formal to formal register.
  • Your tone should demonstrate an interest in the person you are interviewing.
  • Make a list of which topics you might want to ask about. Start from general to specific.
  • Design open and closed questions and make sure they are grammatically correct.
  • Open questions help you to obtain facts, basic information, and quick reactions.
  • Closed questions help you to obtain thoughts, opinions, or feelings.
  • A written interview is a form of a magazine article that allows the interviewer to conduct and then publish a person-to-person discussion.
  • Include a catchy headline/title.
  • Include an introductory paragraph explaining who your interviewee is and a context paragraph describing the place where you are meeting.
  • Your interview must follow a question-and-answer format.
  • Speakers are introduced by names or initials, usually in bold, followed by a colon.
  • The journalist’s questions are often printed in bold. For example:
  • RR: What songs did you perform during your last concert?
  • FW: I sang “Blackbird.”
  • Audience: This will be defined by where the interview is meant to be published.
  • Context: This will depend on whom you are interviewing. It will not be the same if interviewing a musician than interviewing a scientist or a friend.
  • Purpose: To inform, report, explore or prove someone’s posture or opinion.
  • Saad AlDin, K. & Morley, K. (2018). English B: Second Edition. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. Pages 96 & 118.