Making a Podcast #2: Interview and Debate

This workshop will lead participants to doing interviews as well as round table debates. It introduces ideas to be reflected on regarding the way to moderate an interview and/or debate. This will be particularly relevant for someone preparing for an interview or for the people who participate in the debate during the show – but everyone interested in podcasting will learn something useful. Suggest participants take notes.

Key points to get across:

• The interviewer must always be in charge of the exchange. They should follow a sequence of prepared questions.
• The interview should centre around a particular subject around which the questions should be structured. If the interview is on an organisation fighting against sexual harassment, the questions should relate to that organisation. The interviewer in this case should not attempt to recount the entire history of sexual harassment, nor make reference to every other similar organisations.
• An interview should be prepared in advance, the questions determined beforehand following a logical progression. This requires a lot of research and the interviewer needs to know their subject!
• The person interviewing should also know how to react spontaneously to answers and deviate from their prepared questions where appropriate. They should be ready to ask for more detail on aspects of a response they feel requires it.

The objective of this section will be to find a guest to be interviewed and prepare the questions in advance. On the basis of a chosen theme, the participants will find a person to contact (the simplest way might be to interview a librarian if the workshop is taking place at the library; or perhaps the school principal if it is happening at an educational institution for example).

In the case that no one is available, try interviewing over the phone – this is a last resort. Next participants will need to come up with questions. To do this, the team in charge of the interview might do the research so that the person who will ask the questions is as well-prepared as possible You could have participants listen to a radio interview and analyse it with them afterwards. There are countless resources out there to find them. For example:

• The Interview Archive, BBC
• Fresh Air Interviews, NPR (US)
• On Demand, RRR (Australia)

This will be an usual round table, as some participants will have to play the role of experts. Share the principles to understanding the concept of a round table and its organisation. Clarify the roles of the facilitator – who is the in this case also the presenter – and the roles of the experts. The objective is to discuss a particular theme on which a range of viewpoints is necessary. Either because the subject matter is complex or because it simply provokes debate.

The presenter will steer the discussion by posing subject-addressing questions and inviting certain experts to speak at particular moments. They will need to ensure that each guest has equal opportunity and time to speak. Regarding the experts in today’s workshop, each one will have their own role, whether it be a sociologist, a parent of a student, or whatever. Once the role is decided, the expert will prepare a short written profile for themselves to give to the presenter before the end of the day.

Each expert will work on their arguments. It would be a good idea to organise short meetings between the presenter and the experts. They would therefore be able to refine the subject, exchange on their ideas and the presenter will be able to begin to prepare some questions. Here are some tips on how to organise and facilitate a round table debate. See here also.