1. DO YOUR RESEARCH : Preparation is the key to a great interview. Research your subject’s athletic career, his or her personal life, any awards/honours he or she has received and challenges like injuries or controversies he or she has faced. The more you know about your interview subject, the more engaging your interview will be.
2. KEEP AN OPEN MIND : Allow the conversation to unfold naturally. If you come into the interview too focused on a particular narrative, you may miss a more interesting story.
3. START OFF EASILY : Warm the interviewee up by beginning with simple questions and moving to the harder ones. Easy warm-up questions include: “How old are you?” “How long have you been playing the sport?” ...
4. LET THE ATHLETE YOU ARE INTERVIEWING GUIDE YOU : Instead of waiting for your chance to ask the next question, remain engaged with your interview subject to see what topics excite him. If your subject gets very animated when talking about his grandmother, for example, ask follow-up questions about the role she played in his life. You never know what interesting story you might uncover.
5. ASK DESCRIPTIVE QUESTIONS : To get your interviewee to give more detailed answers, ask him or her to describe a scene. For example, instead of saying, “How did it feel to win a gold medal?” say, “Describe the moment you looked up at the scoreboard and saw that you had won gold.”
6. LET THE INTERVIEWEE FINISH THEIR TRAIN OF THOUGHT : Many new interviewers are so eager to get on to their next question that they cut the subject off once they get a decent answer. Always wait until your interview subject has fully finished answering your question before continuing to the next one.
7. KEEP IT SHORT : Studies have shown that a video’s audience falls dramatically after the two-minute mark. Keep your interview short (2 to 4 minutes).
