Interviewing Tips for Living History

Conducting Interviews

Let your interview subject know that this is an important project and that you are very interested in his or her personal experiences. Treat the interview as serious work. Ask each question from your list and wait respectfully for an answer.

Don’t be afraid of silence!
  • Sometimes it may take your subject a moment or two to compose an answer.
  • Look directly at the person who is giving the interview.
  • Nod and smile to show that you are listening and understand the story.
  • If you don’t understand, ask a follow-up question.

Interviewing Tips from Frank Koller, CBC correspondent:

Here are things I think about when heading out to an interview or at the interview:
  1. What would be good to get out of the interview? What would be helpful for the project? Think of it as a conversation.
  2. Write your questions down on your pad of paper - don't rely on your memory - BUT you don't need to ask them in the order you wrote them.
  3. Take notes! Bring a two pencils/pens and a pad of paper.
  4. Ask the person if you can record your conversation on your smartphone. Re-assure them it is not for radio, it will be kept private but that you would just like to make sure in case you can't write everything down.
  5. A huge part of a good interview is to really listen to what the person is saying ... and then follow up on that ... you can always come back to what you had written down.
  6. If you can, sit beside them on a couch ... it feels friendly, but they can still feel they could get up and leave anytime ...  these kinds of small things are important to make people feel comfortable 
  7. If you are meeting the interviewee at a seniors’ home, try to find a quieter place for the discussion you'll have. You don't want to make the person feel nervous, like you are interrogating them in a prison cell, but sitting in a big open space with people walking by and stopping to chat will make it hard to get good info, especially as elders tend to take a little more time to think out answers before talking 
  8. The old standard questions of ...  who, what, when, why and how  ... are always good.
  9. Ask one question at a time and give people time to think and answer. There is nothing wrong with silence for a while.
  10. Don't start off by asking how they "feel" about something. Instead ask them about their lives, where they were born, grew up, to get them started They will get to their “feelings” about something as they tell you what happened. Then, it's okay to ask: “Could you tell me more about how difficult that was for you?”
  11. Factual questions are easier to answer and it gets people talking more easily ... where did you raise your family, was it hard finding work just after the Second World War, did your work (your husband's work) mean that you had to move a lot, simple factual questions 
  12. A great question for older people is always something like: “What would you tell a young person now who is about to ...?” (Fill in the blank depending on what you were talking about ... leave school so early, move far away from family, etc. ) This lets people play the role of advice-giving, which we ALL like to do. 
  13. With older people, be aware of when they might be getting tired, or need a sip of water (better to make sure you both have a glass of water on hand BEFORE you start).
See also the Quebec Anglophone Heritage Network's Oral History Guide.

Recording setup

If you are video-recording your interview, the camera should be set up on a tripod. Put the camera as close to the interviewee as comfortable. (Don't put the camera more than five feet from him or her unless you have a special microphone that is attached to a jack.) If you have a camera operator ask him or her to keep the camera as still as possible. Use the zoom button only when a close-up will help the audience understand the story being told.