Interviews! Love’em or hate’em they’re one of the cornerstones of journalism and podcasting so you better know how to do them right.
If you fall into the camp of “I do not know how to properly conduct interviews, help me (Insert deity of choice here)!” Fear not! This guide can and will save your rear-end. So strap in, here are 10 things you need to do (or shouldn’t do) in an interview!
1. Don’t: Make assumptions
You shouldn’t be like a dumb barbarian and make assumptions. Instead you should thoroughly investigate your topic as your assumptions may be wrong or just misleading.
2. Do: Record EVERYTHING
Plain and simple. Record everything. (except when you’re off the record.) Down to the shoes the person is wearing or the spinach in between their teeth. Don’t be a D&D player when it comes to how often you take notes, beacause there’s no history check in the real world to protect you from fact checkers.
3. Don’t: Be manipulative
Manipulating someone is just plain unethical, and can bite you in the rear-end when the party in question finds out. Just as you know to never underestimate the power of a vengeful DM, just keep that in mind during an interview and imagine that there is a vengeful DM watching over you, judging you… Though religion is also a great alternative.
4. Do: Gain the interviewee’s trust
Just like during a Dungeon and Dragons session while you are role playing it is very helpful to gain the trust of players and the DM alike. People will be more comfortable with you and reveal more (Or give you advantage on rolls.)
5. Do: Fact-check your information! (possibly the most important thing to do!)
Even if the charismatic bard rolls high on deception and tells you he runs a kingdom. The one action you should take is to fact-check their claim. Even your own claims… TRUST NO ONE. NOT EVEN YOURSELF.
6. Don’t: Pretend to Be Someone You’re Not
It is perfectly normal to role-play being someone during D&D. However this isn’t a good idea for an interview. And there is the whole crime of identity theft, so yeah, there’s that to consider as well.
7. Do: Pay Attention to Detail
Pay close attention to detail just like how you should paying attention to D&D sessions. Unless you want the party and the Dungeon Master to be mad at you for being on your phone. Just like how going on your phone during an interview is pretty far from ideal.
8. Don’t: Pursue Anything but the Truth
A pursuit of anything other than the truth in an interview is unethical and can sometimes show, leading to the loss of respect from the audience and others. Just like in D&D, you pursue a good story that involves everyone, anything else would just have a negative impact on other players and overall story.
9. Do: Capture Someone’s Behavior
Each and every person has flaws, patterns, and tiny quirks that make them unique. In an interview, your job is to capture a very complex character and make sure that as much as possible carries over into the interview and is properly portrayed to the audience.
Of course, D&D characters don’t have to be this complex and can just be condensed to two or three over-the-top-extreme character traits, though it is worth mentioning characters like these are hated by the DM, other players, and me. F*** you.
10. Don’t: Do Something Dishonest or Sneaky to get a Story
Rolling for deception isn’t a good idea. Persuasion is the better way to get a story unless you want your career to crash and burn around you due to defamation lawsuits, privacy laws coming in to bite you in the behind, or just having a reputation as a shady person.
So to summarize…
There are many things that you have to do in order to conduct a great interview, many of these things are “common sense” stuff, but it’s always helpful to look at some of the other stuff that you might not have expected to be on here.
Here’s to you! And we here at the Dumbgeon Divers Podcast wish you all the best with your interview, whether it be a podcast or news article, good luck and we hope your project is going to be a Natural 20!
Idiots 'N' Dragons 