FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER

The Do's and and Dont's of conducting an interview 
"A great interview is a lesson in the art of bringing out the story from the interviewee."

In this session we got into groups of two and found some interesting topics about each others lives. We then had to think up questions which would prompt the interviewee to speak freely and comfortably about these topics.
We had to:
-Think about the questions we wanted to ask them and right them in a logical order (being able to research/discuss with the interviewee made this a lot easier).
-If you want to show the life journey this person has been on, then start the questions with something about their childhood.
-Ask open ended questions to avoid short lame answers.
-When conducting the interview, start with warm relaxing questions to put the interviewee at ease.
-Listen and respond to your interviewees.

The interview my partner and I came up with was about his school life and how it has changed his life. The questions I asked were:
-Tell me about your early school life - what you liked and disliked about it (from research I knew that this would lead on to him telling my about being bullied)
-How do you feel your bullied experiences have changed your outlook on life?
-What was it that forced you to turn to crime?
-What and when was the turning point in your mind?
-How do you feel about your life now?

The interview questions could have been better. After feedback I was told that picking just one aspect of his life, for example crime, would have been better. And a cleaner opening line would have given the interview more of a structure.

I really enjoyed this session as it was interesting to hear about significant parts in peoples lives. I found it particularly hard to talk about significant details in my interview, but my interviewer was very understanding and made me feel at ease by being patient and kind.

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