Interviewers

[fbg40]

Watched BBC at about 8 am today and a 91 year old chap who lost his wife of 70 years back in March this year, due to Covid, said he was "very lonely, lonely". The chap interviewing him then asked him "Are you lonely ?". Where do they get these people from !! Amazing.
Happy Christmas everybody !!
FBG40

[emmie]

i know, some don't know how to interview members of the public.

[andy-hughes]

Interviewing - and I know because I have done it a lot for over forty years - is nothing like as easy as the good interviewers make it look.

If it's for media, you have to train yourself not to lapse into standard 'off mic' conversational habbits like going 'Yeah ...' or 'Mmmm ...'.

The other main trick - and clearly this applies here - is not to let the fact that you are concentrating on your next question stop you from hearing and understanding the answer you are hearing now - which avoids stupid questions like the illustration here.

It takes training and practice, but there is no excuse for a professional radio or television journalist not to have learned these basics.

Clive Anderson always interupts with endless "Yeah" noises when he is interviewing, but that is simply because he is not interested in what the other person is saying, he is simply impatient for them to stop talking so he can start again!

[Arrods]

One thing that gets me is the female reporter camped out at No 10 who shouts out such things as “Are you cancelling Christmas Prime Minister?” as if she’s expecting a response.

[andy-hughes]

Arrods - // One thing that gets me is the female reporter camped out at No 10 who shouts out such things as “Are you cancelling Christmas Prime Minister?” as if she’s expecting a response. //

I think they do it so they can be seen - and heard - to be asking a question that the public would like answered, even though they know there is no chance whatsoever of an answer coming back.

[vulcan42]

I think the problem with most interviewers is they are more interested in hearing their own voice rather than what the interviewee is saying.

[Arrods]

Nice - but not fulfilling - work if you can get it!

[eve1974]

What an insult to the ol' boy! Crap interviewer

[Paigntonian]

Or maybe you should understand what a difficult job it is. Probably too big 'an ask' for many on this site.

[andy-hughes]

vulcan - // I think the problem with most interviewers is they are more interested in hearing their own voice rather than what the interviewee is saying. //

That depends on the format for interviewer and interviewee - if it's a chat show for example, there can be a tendency for grandstanding from the host, because he or she is the host.

Political interviewers are always criticised for cutting in, but as i point out when the issue is raised, they are on a short time-scale, and have a series of questions hopefully to get answered, and often the studio director is screaming into their ear-piece to move the conversation along.

For me, I almost always interview for magazines, so it doesn't matter if we wander off track, or I cut in sometimes, although I never ever say 'Yeah ...' randomly, I started off my journalistic career in radio, so that was trained out of me right from the start.

I do sometimes interview for video film, and then I am extra careful to maintain silence - if I want to encourage the interviewee to keep going, I simply catch their eye and nod, which has the desired effect but doesn't cut into the sound of what they are saying.

[Old_Geezer]

That is the thing: being hyped up about getting the questions right and creating a smooth interview, some fail to take in what has just occurred and reacting appropriately. Interviewer needs more experience.

[-SharonA-]

What is annoying when interviewing someone who has suffered a loss & trying to hold back tears,
"How do you feel?"
How the heck do you expect them to feel???

[jno]

that is annoying, SharonA.

"How did you feel when you saw your baby torn limb from limb by wild dogs?"

"Er..."

[-SharonA-]

"How did you feel when you saw your baby torn limb from limb by wild dogs?"

Ecstatic!!!

[Cloverjo]

Reminds me of a Blue Peter presenter. Something like...

Person: So-and-So can’t be here today to celebrate our amazing fund-raising because he’s broken his leg.

BP presenter: That’s great!

[andy-hughes]

And Jim Bowen, famously on Bullseye -

"What do you do for a living?"

"I'm unemployed Jim."

"Smashing! Great! Marvellous!!"

[grumpy01]

I’m reminded of a story about the late Jim Bowen.At the start of the programme Jim asks the contestant “And what do you do?”contestant replies”unemployed Jim”Jim says “super,smashing,great” Contest says”you b??????d.” Pure fiction of course but always make me smile.

[andy-hughes]

Grumpy, do you read the thread before you post?

[grumpy01]

I think we must have crossed because when I started typing that contribution was not present.

[Ken4155]

Dermot O'dreary was interviewing Nadya Hussein a few Saturdays back and mentioned that it was her birthday on Christmas Day. He asked, "How do you cope celebrating your birthday and Christmas on the same day?" Doh!

[carolegif]

I keep getting emails regarding this post. Nothing I have commented on.