Record an interview

Planning your interview

Here are some key decisions to make when you’re planning your interview.

• Subject(s): will you interview one person, several people together, or several people individually?
• Recording location: this could be at your desk, on Zoom or Teams, in a room on campus, or in a media space / recording studio.
• Technology: how good is your camera? Do you have access to good microphones? If you’re working from home, is your internet access stable?
• Format: some examples are –
  • An interview with questions and answers (e.g. Interview with Professor Simon Buckingham Shum)
  • A short presentation based on a specific topic and your prompts (e.g. Social Responsibility at ARUP)
  • Responses to student questions (e.g. International students’ questions answered)
• Length: will the interview be shown as recorded? You may find it difficult to manage the interview to the time limit so make sure everyone knows how much time you have.
• Editing: will you need to edit the interview? If so, make sure your interviewees understand that their comments may not be included in full. Some people may ask to see your edit before it is published.

Questions and Prompts

Before you start planning the questions and prompts, you may need to research your interviewee and their business or organisation so you can ask appropriate questions.

You need to plan and write your questions and prompts. They will form the basic structure of your video but don’t create a script or checklist. You need to remain flexible as the interview flows and new directions and opportunities come up and can be explored.

Some suggestions for good interview questions:

• Ask open-ended questions and leave room for detailed responses. Don’t ask questions with yes/no answers.
• Address one point at a time. Try not to ask one question with multiple parts or subjects as there is a good chance that you won’t get an answer to everything. Even if you do, some students may find it difficult to absorb the information.
• When you have more complex issues to explore, ask a short question to introduce the topic and then ask follow-ups.

During the interview

• Introductions
  • Remember to introduce your guest.
  • Rather than tell your audience about your guest, ask them to talk about their background.
  • Give some context – why are they being interviewed? This could be explained by you or by your guest in their initial introduction.
• Awkward silence?
  • Sometimes there will be quiet moments as your guest thinks about your question. Try not to fill the silence with prompts or suggested answers. You can edit out these pauses later on.
• Interaction
  • Be an active listener. Avoid interrupting your guest and ask questions that build off their responses.
  • Don’t be afraid of follow up questions. Answers can sometimes be surface level, for more detail, zone in on a particular part of a response for more information.
  • Remember: it’s not about you! As an interviewer your job is to direct the flow of conversation, not to own it. Be sure your interviewee it is talking more than you.
• Ask for clarification
  • Even if you are across the topic, remember your student audience.
  • If you don’t understand a response, ask for further explanation.
  • If they use an uncommon acronym, abbreviation, or jargon, ask for it to be spelled out. There’s a good chance your students may not understand.
• Wrapping up
  • You may want to include follow up materials in your wrap up that your students may want to explore further, such as your guest’s website or LinkedIn profile.
  • Provide a call to action: tell your audience where they can go to find more, or in a teaching context, ask questions or provide an activity to engage your audience.

Recording

Recording a remote interview

The easiest way to record a remote interview is via Zoom, which can be done in a few easy steps:

1. Start your meeting in Zoom.
2. When you are ready to start recording, select ‘Record’ from the navigation menu.
3. When finished, select pause/stop to end recording and select ‘Stop recording’ from the pop-up window. Your recording will be sent to your UTS email.

For more detailed information on how to record with Zoom, check out our resource Record Your Zoom meeting.

Recording a live action interview

For recording a live action interview, we recommend using the LX.lab Podcast Studio, located in the LX.Lab Self Recording Studio. This can be booked by submitting a Media Production ticket via Service Connect.

If you would prefer to record the interview yourself, you can do so on any device you like by using the built-in camera app. LX.lab is also able to lend equipment such as cameras and microphones. More information about our equipment loans is available on the Media Equipment Loans page, and you can book via ServiceConnect.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when recording your interview in person:

1. Check your audio quality. If you are too far away from your microphone or device, the audio may be hard to hear.
2. Make sure your lighting source is well-positioned. Try to have the light behind the camera, facing your subjects so avoid silhouetting and shadow.  
3. Shoot in a quiet location to limit background noise. When outside, be aware of traffic, birds and other distractions. Inside, be aware of loud air conditioning and other potentially distracting noises.
4. If recording from your phone, shoot horizontally and not vertically to ensure all subjects fit in the frame.