I am afraid that my only interview experience comes from being the interviewee. My little sister interviewed me as part of her final project for her Sociology degree at Sonoma State. I believe she interviewed eight people about various aspects of body image. She was very organized about the whole business and had a great many questions prepared ahead of time, and she also asked follow up questions that were based on the answers that I had given. being that it was my sister, and the interview was conducted in my bedroom, I was pretty comfortable with the situation, and I was able to give in depth answers rather easily. The interview lasted about an hour if I recall. I know that she had to transcribe each interview for her thesis, which took forever and a day, but it seemed like she gathered a great deal of helpful data from the process.
I was also interviewed by one of the local news stations when my high school (waaaaaay back when) had an outbreak of meningitis. We needed to get permission slips signed in order to take an oral vaccination, and I had forgotten my slip, so by the time my father came to the school the news team was there covering the story. They interviewed both my dad and I about the outbreak and how we felt about it. Then they asked if they could film me taking the pill, and I agreed. They put the camera RIGHT UP IN MY FACE as I tried to down the pill with some water, but I got so nervous and self-conscious that I choked on the pill, shot water out of my nose and spilled the water from my cup all over my face, and turned beet red in the process. And they totally used that clip.
All in all I think I preferred the interview with my sister.
I don't have much experience when it comes to interviews either. Interviews just make me nervous; it does not matter if I'm the interviewer or the interviewee they are just "uncomfortable". I do not where my apprehension for interviews comes from but I definitely need to get over it. I can relate to being interviewed by someone you know well and in your "environmental", that definitely makes a huge difference. I don't think many interviewers think about where they conduct their interviews and how it influences the interview. Next time I find myself having to interview someone I'll make sure to take the location into account.
ReplyDeleteThat’s great that you have had “some” exposure to the process. Any experience is better then none. Your sister’s organization with her interview is clearly the result of great amount of preparation. The main thing that I have taken away from the videos and the chapter is that lots of preparation is one of the essential steps in constructing an effective and organized speech. Furthermore, your sisters ability to ask follow up question based on your answers probably helped her dig deeper into the issue and really get the substance she was looking for.
ReplyDeleteHi, Amethyst,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading the post about your experience with being a interviewee with your sister and the local news station; this was very interesting experience thought. I have never been an interviewee before, and I thought it would be my nightmare if I were in front of a video camera to speak to public. I can tell that you are a smart girl because you were just an interviewee, but you were learning from carefully observing what your sister was preparing and handling her assignment. Even though another experience with public was like a joke, it would be as a funny memory in your mind forever. Thanks for sharing the entertainingly personal experience.
I think that you wrote a great post. I personally don't have much experience with interviews. I remember doing an interview for my senior project in high school, but that is about it. I think that being an interviewee would be less stressful than being the one conducting the interview, unless it is a news station. I would have been completely nervous as well if I were put in your position. I find it interesting how you can learn so much from interviews, even when you are the interviewee. I like how you explained what you learned from your sister conducting the interview. Great post!
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