As someone with a lot of experience giving interviews, I have one word of advice for anyone looking to get into a field involving them, like podcasts or documentaries. ORGANIZATION! I struggled all my life with organization, but this line of work kicked most of my bad habits out of me. So, before you learn the hard way I did, I want to help YOU get your interviews organized!

I don’t care what year you are reading this. Even if the world looks like Cyberpunk 2077 or The Jetsons, always keep a pen or pencil and a notebook or tablet on hand. These tools of the trade make or break your success as an interviewer for a multitude of reasons. I recommend having these for every interview. It never hurts to take constant, simple, shorthand notes throughout the interview. These can help you keep the conversation going, prevent you from missing details, and provide extra context and reminders for later editing and descriptions.

Before the interview occurs, however, that notebook has an additional purpose. When you encounter your interview subject and set up the interview, you have a duty to take notes. Write down the subject’s name, contact information, title or why they’re being interviewed, and the date, time, and episode you plan on interviewing them for. I recommend, after writing all this down physically on your notepad, writing it down on your calendar, whether that is digital or physical. Your chances of missing a critical meeting are decreased tenfold by writing it down in two places. This advice goes for all fields, really, but especially interviews and meetings.

Another critical piece of advice is that of timeliness. Schedule your uploads and interviews alike for when the questions and content are most pertinent and relevant. I landed one of my dream interviews a few years ago with an actor I greatly respect named Adrian Petriw. It was a pleasure speaking with Petriw about his career and personal life. The highlight of the interview was the hints he dropped about his upcoming role in the popular animated series, “The Dragon Prince.” However, I made a critical mistake. Due to schedule conflicts in my academic career and personal life, as well as a bit of stonewalling from my editors, the article wasn’t uploaded that day, week, month, or even year. The next season of “The Dragon Prince” came and went, all before I finally posted my article on a separate platform. Due to the poor scheduling of myself and my former editors, I missed the timeframe for a hot-button scoop.

 

I hope you’ll learn from my mistakes. Keep notes of everything, write every name and date down on two sources, and always keep your eyes on the clock and calendar – time is money! If you liked this post or learned something, subscribe to my blog please, and share this with a friend! Are you someone who keeps tidy notes and a detailed schedule? Or are you someone “who goes with the flow?” Leave a comment below telling me which! Thanks for reading!