Blog Alert A Cunning Plan

Baldrick always had a cunning plan, so ridiculous and stupid it added the important bathos to the broad slapstick comedy of Black Adder.  When it comes to the radio/TV interview you also need a cunning plan, but this one should be sensible and grounded.

One of the most important questions to ask yourself before you interview somebody is.. Why am I interviewing this person?  What do I hope to achieve and conclude from the interview?  Please write that down on the top of your page of questions.

Now the next move in your cunning plan should be to work out how you can get what you want from the interviewee in the minimum amount of time and effort from either party.

DO NOT

Just wander in with a microphone and a recorder running … you will walk out with hours of totally useless audio/footage that will take a chunk of your brief life to edit.

TRY HARD

To just ask the questions that gets the right answers… remember you know where you are going because you wrote at the top of your question sheet what was wanted and what conclusion the interviewee should provide.

ALL CHANGE PLEASE

If the interview goes off on a tangent but what they say is relevant or adds to the subject or is so good that it is worth keeping … that is fine.  But if they wander off subject without it being better material.. get them back in line like a sheep dog herding sheep into a pen.

Summary:

No wandering.

Try hard to get only what you need.

Allow change if for the better.