Strong stories are best recorded in one-to-one interviews. Spend time getting to know the interviewee – they are entrusting you with something of themselves, and need to know that you will respect their story. Explain clearly what the purpose of the project is, and how their story will be used. Make sure they are happy with that and give you permission.
The Nitty Gritty
Process phase
Gather
Suggested time
Allow more time for the interview process than the interview itself. Keeping recordings to under an hour is generally a good idea.
People
Interviewer, photographer, storyteller
Steps
01
Before
Before you meet your interviewee, do your research. If you’re interviewing a bike mechanic, make sure you know the difference between a crossbar and a handlebar. Go in with a clear idea of what you want to ask them about rather than a rigid list of questions. Keep the focus tight. Don’t be scared to pull them back if they go off topic. Asking lots of different people to talk about the same topic will make for a richer tapestry of stories later on.
Make sure you remember to bring:
A voice recorder
Consent forms
A camera
A list of themes to be covered
02
When you arrive
Build rapport with the person you’re interviewing. Great stories, full of rich emotional language, and vivid images, come from relaxed storytellers. Again, this takes time. But we promise you, it’ll be time well spent. Time and empathy are the most important story-gathering tools in your kit.
03
During
Record your interviews using a voice recorder such as the Zoom H4n. Record in WAV for high quality audio.
Structure your interview like an upside-down tree. Start with big, general questions (the trunk), then move down the branches and into the twigs, gathering detail. Then return to the trunk and follow a different branch.
Listen actively, and ask questions. Starting with ‘what?’, ‘where?’, ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ (known as ‘open questions’) encourages people to give fuller answers. Don’t be scared of emotion, but if your interviewee is uncomfortable, ask them if they’d like to take a break.
Knowing when to draw your interview to a close, and doing so respectfully, can be difficult. Summarising what you’ve heard, and telling your interviewee how their story fits in to the project will help them to feel heard, and give them a sense of being part of history.
The Oral History Society’s well-respected, day-long introductory course covers interviewing in depth – http://www.ohs.org.uk/training/
04
When your interview is over
Remember to say thank you! Explain how you’ll be using the interview, and ask your interviewee to sign a consent form. You might want to take a picture to support the story. Take a portrait of the storyteller if they’re happy with that, but also look for environmental details that relate to their story.
05
Afterwards
How you use the interview will depend on the scope and scale of your project. You might want to edit it down into bite-sized clips that are easily accessible and punchy, or you might want to keep the interview in its entirety, just cleaning up the stumbles and repetitions. It’s up to you. Make sure you send the person you’ve interviewed a copy of the edited version, and ask them if they’d like a copy of the full version as well.
