An introduction to

Interviewing Presenting Recording Editing

Interviewing

Remember this 6 key things

Interviewing 1. Find a good location. Avoid noisy places, most people agree to meet

each other in a local coffee shop, while this is really useful as a meeting point; when it comes to an interview noise is very commonly the first factor to ruin a production.

Key Points for a location 1.Related to the story or the programme 2.A place where noise is manageable and if

possible a place where you are in control to reduce interference

2. Prepare your goals

Think about what you are trying to achieve with the interview this will help with formulating the right questions. Visualize your final product; this will help with the scenery and the actual interview.

3. Questions

Be confident, hesitating with the questions or sounding out of balance could make the interviewee feel insecure, confuse or even uninterested. Always prepare in advance when possible and bring the questions and relevant information with you to the interview.

4. Work on your flow

This is probably the most challenging but also the most important interview skill you can develop. You want to strike a balance between a conversation (which helps make your subject feel comfortable) and getting the job done. As your subject is answering your question, you should be thinking about what you’ll ask next and why.

Be natural; don’t spin your subject off on a completely different topic just because that’s the next question on your list. Think about transitions.

5. Think about the final product Interviewing techniques definitely vary for different mediums so is best

to prepare for each project; when recording video or audio remember these simple rules.

Don’t interrupt the subject (Nodding and smiling accomplishes the same sort of conversational encouragement as saying “yeah,” and “uh-huh,” or ‘’OK’’.

Avoid generating sounds such as moving paper around, keys, tapping the table etc. (This sounds are almost impossible to filter or edit from an interview)

Always remember to keep track of time; important figures will remember if you took too long, and may not accept future interviews

If you are debating or swapping opinions always try to keep it simple and clear of any distressing situation. (Remember you are not there to start a war, nor to make them feel uncomfortable)

Conversely, when you’re interviewing for print, try and break questions up so you can get shorter and more concise answers (easier for taking notes and for quoting later). You can be more conversational with interviews for print.

6. Chat with the interviewee before Sometimes subjects could get confuse

during the interview because they simply don’t understand what you want from them. Having a conversation before the recording could bring you closer together, help with empathy and help both parties understand the purpose of the interview.

Editing

Editing

Editing is a vital part of any sound or video project, in this process all the unwanted parts are removed; this is also the process where noises, hiss and any other unsatisfactory sound can be filter. Before start editing is important to visualize the final product, and if possible to design a script as this makes the process much faster and effective.

Presenting

Is always good to remember that as a presenter your role is to entertain and to inform the audience; you also need to master the ability to communicate information through a microphone with a very clear approach. Presenting is often taken for granted as communicators frequently forget the main aim of presenting; which is to get a message across and to tell stories through a series of available media outlets while entertaining an audience. In order to get the most out of a programme use the following tips.

Recording using portable equipment Portable recording equipment is vital in

any radio category as it helps you capture and record things that may be more difficult in Studio or due to the tight schedule. Even though portable recording equipment is very simple to use is very important to remember certain things when using such device.

Recording using portable equipment Remember that in most professional

recording devices you have to press Record twice, once to start the monitor, two to start recording (make sure timer is moving)

Remember to check the decibels level before you start recording as the set up could be on –Decibels and not in the standard 0

Recording using portable equipment Get Familiar with your device as some

microphones can collect sound from all directions while others only gather sound from an specific direction and this could really affect your recording

Remember that phone signals or any other type of signal could affect the recording, if mobile phones are near the recording device make sure the antenna is not pointing to the device as this generates an interference and a noise

Recording using portable equipment At least one person should be using

headphones at all times and monitoring the recording to able to pick up interference and noises

Before the recording starts people taking part should be reminded of the Do and Don’ts such as no tapping the table etc.