Interview Techniques for Radio
Full Review

Reviewed by: Rajamani Francis Pereira, Former Radio and TV Presenter/Producer, MediaCorp, Singapore
Review posted 1 June 2005
Review No. 46

CD-ROM Information

Content: This CD-ROM provides skills training on basic radio production techniques. It includes guidance for producers, reporters, and radio executives on what to look out for in various radio formats and conditions under which interviews are conducted.
Publication Date: 17 July 2001
Audience: Suitable for new entrants to radio, particularly those in the Asia-Pacific region, and staff of government-run radio stations.

Size: 383 MB
Price: Free
Manual needed: No
How to order:

Order by mail:
AIBD
P.O. Box 1137 Pantai
59700 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia

Order by e-mail:
E-mail: info@aibd.org.my

AIBD website*

*This link takes you outside the ADBI website. Please use the back button to return to ADBI.org.

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Full Review

This CD-ROM provides a practical treatment of basic radio production and interviewing techniques. It serves mainly as an introduction to radio production. The course comprehensively teaches radio executives how to persuade people to accept an invitation to an interview and also how to overcome the fear of speaking into a microphone.

It fails, however, to deal extensively with interviewing techniques, as the title of the course implies.

It was developed and produced by the Asia Pacific-Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), Malaysia, with funding from the Government of Finland.

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Users

This course is aimed at new entrants to radio particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. It also targets staff who work for government-run radio stations. It is particularly helpful for those who come from countries where officials, CEOs, industry captains, and government officials may be reluctant to speak to journalists.

This is not a course for experienced journalists and is not recommended  as a refresher course.

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Content: Overview

The CD-ROM has six modules, each containing three to ten lessons:

1. Introduction:  Covers why a reporter/producer would conduct an interview, and how the right mindset is necessary for the interviewer.
2. Types of Interviews:  Lists the various types of interviews, and what one aims to get out of these interviews.
3. Decisions:  Deals with the placement, duration, and context of the interview. Touches on the research needed for conducting an interview, and how important it is to prepare questions for the "ear" and ask them naturally.
4. Getting Started:  Deals with the nuts and bolts of interviewing, right from the very beginning of calling a CEO’s office and getting past the secretary to deciding what background noise you might have when doing interviews.
5. The Interview Itself:  Handles the question of why it is important not to provide questions beforehand to the interviewee, and the necessity of retaining editorial control. There is a list of "Golden Rules" to follow in terms of doing an interview, including tips on traps and how to avoid them.
6. After the Interview:  Common courtesies that are extended to the interviewee, plus editing and presentation of the program are handled in this module.

Still pictures and video clips are used in addition to a commentator who leads users through the CD-ROM. The content is structured in such a way that users can skip sections and start anywhere. This facilitates revision should users need further clarification or repetition.

An onscreen “highlighter” that marks each finished lesson is particularly helpful. This permits users to easily return to the last section they were studying.

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Content: Comments

The CD-ROM comprehensively covers all the critical steps necessary prior to an interview. It also covers what to do during an interview in terms of location, subject matter, and asking the right questions, as well as post-interview steps. It provides helpful tips to newcomers to radio, e.g., not forgetting to take an extra tape, and checking equipment before leaving for an assignment so the embarrassing situation of not being able to record an interview is avoided.

However, the course does not use sufficient examples of "award winning" radio interviews to drive its point home. Issues such as how to compile research, formulate questions, avoid "yes, no" answers, etc. go unanswered or are dealt with summarily towards the end. It deals at length on production techniques such as interview background noise, e.g., on the road or near where dogs bark, and the importance of getting past the secretary to get an interview and how to persuade people to agree to an interview. It would have been better to spend more time on exploring further the challenges of conducting a good interview.

It may have been worthwhile to provide more tips on the various interview formats and how to execute them well e.g., Vox Pops interviews, outlined in Module 2. (Vox Pop translates as Vox Populi or Voice of the People. Instead of interviewing one person with a series of different questions you stop lots of people in the street and ask them the same question.) There should have been greater detail on how to conduct these interviews and how to edit them so that they sound relevant and dramatic.

The CD-ROM could also have looked at other types of interviews. Examples of doing emotional, factual, or confrontational interviews are important but missing from this course.

While the video clips used are well produced and illustrate the points, the course lacks examples of broadcasters' experiences. We need to hear about how world-class broadcasters achieve the results they get from their interviews: we need to get down into the trenches and hear the "war" stories. A lot would emerge from inclusions like that. For a start the importance of listening would come across.

The CD-ROM fails in one major area: it fails to convey the fascination of radio. It fails to convey the world of sound and the wonder of a gripping, engaging, and interesting interview.

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User Friendliness

The CD-ROM is easy to use and understand. The language is simple and uncomplicated. The pace of the reading is good and, while distinctly Asian-Pacific in flavor, it also largely follows "Received Pronunciation" English. People in developing countries for whom English is not the first language will find it easy to follow.

It is easy to install, and simple to follow without assistance. A helpful glossary explains technical terms like VU meter and how it functions.

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Navigability

Users can navigate the course quite easily, skip ahead to the necessary portions, and use the lessons independently as well.  It is also easy to exit the course material at any point, and come back to the point at which you wish to continue.

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Interactivity

The CD-ROM uses multimedia and quizzes.  There are video clips in which the course instructor demonstrates some of the techniques, pitfalls, and guidelines taught in the course.  The video clips are entertaining because of the instructor's good nature and humor, which maintains interests.

There is a 50-question, multiple choice quiz that is a good revision tool.  Usually there is only one correct answer.  Yet there are also times when users have to choose the best answer among various options, most of which are not necessarily wrong, but not optimal.  There are also questions that ask users, for example, to select the top 8 choices out of 20 options.

At the end of the quiz users can have their answers assessed.  The assessment function shows the percentage of questions answered correctly and allows users to review the questions again.  At this point, users can see their answer as well as the best answers recommended by the course instructors.

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Distribution

The course package may be downloaded for free through AIBD's website.* The file is large, so users without broadband internet may not be able to download it within a reasonable amount of time.  AIBD welcomes those users to request a copy to be mailed.  See the How to Order information above.

*This link takes you outside the ADBI website. Please use the back button to return to ADBI.org.

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Sustainability

The package will continue to be relevant despite the advances in radio broadcasting and production technology because it deals with the fundamentals of radio production, which are critical to understand.

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