The first and foremost requirement while transcribing an interview would be the introduction of the participants of the interview for speaker identification. This information is not only limited to speaker identification, but also helps in getting additional information on the participants, which in turn helps to produce a good quality transcript.
A good interviewer should always be prepared with questions, facts, and sources of information in a professional manner. Speaking clearly, slowly and repeating keywords also helps a great deal. The pace of an interview should be controlled in accordance with the time allotted.There are instances where there may be multiple interviewers. In this case, coordination with fellow interviewers is the key. Interviewers should divide the questions to be asked between themselves. If there is no coordination between the interviewers, it would result in a lot of interruptions. Such overlap of communication should be avoided.
On the interviewee front, interviewees should try to be concise while answering the questions posed to them. Digression should be avoided. Avoid interrupting the interviewer and let the interviewer finish questioning before beginning to answer. An interviewee should always keep in mind what information the interviewer is seeking and then give crisp and clear answers. There also can be instances where there are multiple interviewees. Again, it is important to have coordination with fellow interviewees. Interruptions should be avoided and there should be clear segregation of people answering particular types of questions and so on.
However, there are instances when an interview falls below its potential because of some reasons such as the participants are not fully prepared, the interviewer has not organized the questions, or there is no fixed format followed. When an interviewer speaks in an unclear or a hurried manner, the interviewee sometimes fails to comprehend the questions and can repeatedly request the interviewer to repeat the questions. This results in deterioration of the transcript quality. The same rule applies for the interviewee as well as they too have to be prepared for the interview with all research, facts, and sources.
In order to conduct a good interview, distractions should be avoided such as cell phones, BlackBerries, meeting room intrusions, etcetera. In case of a phone interview, it is feasible to utilize a landline. Interviews on cell phones should be avoided. Focus should be maintained on what is required of the interview by all the participants. Try using an ergonomic keyboard, which is quieter than a normal keyboard, so that the sound of typing doesn’t intrude on the interview.
Following all these general and basic practices will be useful in ensuring an effective interview and subsequently in producing the best quality transcripts.
