The best interview is almost a monologue (one person talking) which is encouraged by approving nods, appreciative smiles, and enraptured listening and stimulated by understanding comments and intelligent questions.¹

The Eight Commandments of Oral History Interviewing

1. Do your homework.
2. Be prepared.
3. Be ready with meaningful but open-ended questions.
4. Do not interrupt responses.
5. Follow up on what you have heard.
6. Know your equipment thoroughly.
7. Promptly process your recordings.
8. Always keep in mind and practice the ethics of interviewing.

From ‘Doing Oral History’ by Donald A. Ritchie, Twayne Publishers, New York, 1995, page 57.

• Plan for a session of one and a half to two hours, but be prepared to stop sooner if either the interviewer or the storyteller is tired.
• Although you have interview teams, it may be best to keep the same interviewer for the whole interview process, once the storyteller is relaxed with that person. If you feel that the storyteller will be comfortable with more than one interviewer, you need to plan which person asks which questions. You need to make a plan that will help the two interviewers to avoid interrupting each other.
• Check your interview schedule and be sure to arrive on time. Phone first to make sure that the storyteller is expecting you.
• Take along a notebook. One person on the interview team could be in charge of taking notes – you may want to write down a point that you want clarified later, a name or place you need the spelling for, or an issue for the next interview.
• When you arrive at the interview, take time to visit in a relaxed way before the interview to put both the storyteller and the interviewer at ease. After you have visited for a while, say that you need a few moments to set up your equipment before the formal interview begins.
• Find an electrical outlet for your recording equipment. In case the outlet isn’t near the interview area, be prepared with batteries and an extension cord.
• After you get set up for the interview, do a test to make sure that both you and the interviewee can be heard clearly.
• Before starting the interview, listen through earphones so you can see how much background noise the microphone is picking up and how well your voice is coming through. If background noise is a problem, try moving the mic closer to you and turning down the volume.

1. From What’s So Special About Women? Women’s Oral History by Sherna Gluck, in Oral History: An Interdisciplinary Anthology, edited by Dunaway and Baum, published by American Association for State and Local History, Nashville, 1984