Tips for interviewing with an audio recorder

10 Tips for interviewing with an audio recorder!

1.) Put on your headphones and listen to the sound of the room, or space you are in. What background noises are being picked up? Can we turn something off? Find a quiet corner? Block the wind? What possibilities are there that our interview might be interrupted?

2.) Look at yourself and your source. Do we have on any jewelry that might be distracting? Do we have pens in our hands that we might click, click, click?!

3.) Keep the mic as still as possible while recording and make sure there is not a lot of movement in the mic chord. When you need to move, wait for breaks in conversation.

4.) Use headphones! Your headphones are going to tell you exactly what the finished product is going to sound like.

5.) Ask warm up questions to make sure all the equipment is functioning properly.

6.) Your mic should generally be about 6 inches from the interviewee’s mouth. But this will vary a bit depending on your source. Someone might talk loud and you will need to hold it farther away. Other things to look for are strong P and S sounds. If someone is popping his or her Ps, you may need to back the mic away a little more. If you have a quiet source, don’t be afraid to get close enough to get a good sound level.

7.) Look into the eyes of the person and keep their attention. They’ll forget about the microphone more easily that way.

8.) Try not to interrupt or talk over the person. It is hard to do! We tend to want to use our voices to show people we hear them. Try to use body language instead of voice, a nod of your head for example.

9.) Don’t be afraid of silence. Sometimes waiting for the other person to speak first during a pause in the interview gives you the best sound bites.

10.) Don’t be afraid to ask a question a second time, or in another manner to get a good answer on tape.