“I want the interview to be a narrative and not a questionnaire. I always try to figure out where to start, what’s the right entry place for this interview.” — Terry Gross

“I’m looking for a narrative. What I’m making is narrative, and I’m looking for a narrative. . . . The structure of stories on our show is there’s plot and there are ideas. Those are the two elements you’re constantly monitoring to know whether or not you’ve got them. “ –Ira Glass

“The blueprint is the narrative of somebody’s life, but 9 out of 10, we get caught up in current issues. . . . I find a lot of my interviews of late shift from what’s your story to what are your views.” –Reggie Ossé

You’re going to practice interviewning a partner in class today, by pretending to be one of the interviewers we’ve listened to and then trading and pretending to be a guest . These are the steps to follow:

• With your partner, decide on your roles. An an interviewer, who will you pretend to be? As an interviewee, who will you pretend to be? Note: The roles should fit together logically.

• Once you made a a decision, conduct pre-interviews with each other. Informally, find out a little about the interviewee–and how they might sound recorded.

• Then write 4-5 questions for your interviewee. Consider formatting. What size font? Should anything be bolded or in italics? In a color? Should anything have a note attached to it?

• Then, do some of the vocal exercises we read about in the “Finding Your Voice” chapter of Glenn Weldon’s NPR Podcast Startup Guide–and that we practiced in class together.

• Once you have your questions and you’re warmed up, decide who will interview who. Conduct the interview. When you finish, trade roles and conduct the second interview.

• In both roles, practice using your voice. How do you want to sound? How can you experiment your voice to get that sound.

• If you imagine turning your interview into an episode, what might the narrative be?

Some interview advice:

• Show your curiosity; be aware of your own pleasure and amusement
• Empathize: Imagine your interviewee’s experience
• Listen
• Ask follow-up questions; ask for examples
• Get your interviewee to tell stories
• Get your interviewee talking about ideas and their beliefs
• Listen for magic moments–the ones that will move or startle audiences, get them thinking and feeling with you