For creators looking to put the “social” back in social media, or looking for easy ways to connect and collab, interviews are the way to go. We know: the Clapper team has hosted hundreds of interviews over the years. It’s a format that fits into any genre or style of content you can create, so we weren’t surprised to see so many creators trying it out. And we weren’t surprised that we got so many questions about it. How can I be a better interviewer? What should I ask? Who do I invite?

This article will be your guide to becoming an interviewer. We’ll take you through planning your interview, give you an idea of what questions to ask, and share our top tricks for the interview itself. Whether you’ve been interviewing for a while or you’re just now donning your interviewer hat, this article will give you all the tips you need to succeed.

Interview Prep 🎙️

Before you actually sit down to conduct the interview, it’s best to spend a little extra time preparing. That doesn’t just mean doing some quick warm ups: do a little planning, a little thinking, and a little research. Emphasis on little! You’re busy, we get it. Luckily, most of the prep we encourage you to do is answer a couple of easy questions.

1. How long will the interview(s) last? 🕰️

This is one of the most important questions you can answer as an interviewer. Will this be a one time interview, or do you want to start an interview series? Will this be a quick, fifteen minute interview, or are you wanting to spend an hour interviewing this person? There’s no wrong answer, but you want to have a very clear idea of how much time you’ll need to devote to it. The time limit will guide a lot of your other prep.

Similarly, if you plan to make this a series, how long will you post them? How often will you share new interviews?

2. What’s the format? 📸

Are you wanting to do a Livestream interview? A Radio? Maybe a short-form video? Again, there’s no wrong answer! But get comfortable with your format: watch other interviews that follow it and experiment with it outside of the interview.

3. What style will the interviews be? 🤺

Think of how you want your guests and the audience to feel. You could also choose to focus on a specific topic or experience – and that might decide the tone you want. This will guide the questions you choose, the guests you invite, and how you host. Plus, it’ll give you a way to describe the interviews in your promo!

Here are some examples of tone and style you could choose.

• silly or humorous
• educational
• serious
• emotional
• casual
• professional
• cheerful and upbeat

There’s millions of options and often your first instinct is the best direction to move in. You can mix a few for your own interviewer-style, too!

4. Who are your ideal guests? 👸

Don’t think of a person so much as qualifiers. Will they be people with certain experiences, expertise, or education? Are they involved in a specific community? Deciding this in advance will make finding creators to interview so much easier. And, again, will help you promote the interviews.

Take our own interview series, Clapper Talks, as an example. We wanted to interview Clapper creators successful in their niche or community, who would have great insight into creating content. While we interview people from a variety of communities and interests, we always make sure we’re finding people that fit this bill.

If all else fails, ask yourself who you as an interviewer would like to talk to. It’s likely your audience will want to hear from them, too!

5. What are you going to ask? 🤔

The number one tip for any interview is to show up with questions prepared. The second (and sometimes most important) is to research the interviewee and ask personalized questions. Look into their content, maybe click through any other links they share, and develop some questions just for them.

You can also have a selection of questions you ask every single guest. This can help the interviews seem part of the same theme or series. Below is a set of interview questions generally about social media and content creation. Feel free to use them as your own!

• How long have you been creating content? What made you want to start?
• What are your content creation goals?
• What or who inspires you?
• Imagine your content as a recipe. What are the key ingredients, and how would someone “cook up” a successful piece of your content?
• You create content in X niche. Have you always fit into this community, or did this develop over time?
• What’s your number one tip for new content creators?
• How do you balance creating content with all your other responsibilities?
• How do you keep content creation fun? How do you make it exciting?
• Describe your content in three words. Or, describe your content creation style in three words. (Then ask them to explain why!)
• How do you handle criticism or negative feedback? What advice would you give to aspiring creators dealing with online negativity?

The Interview 🎙️

Now that you’ve got the style of interview nailed down and the perfect guest scheduled, lets get into the actual interview. As you conduct a few interviews, you’ll find the flow that works best for you. It’ll get easier as you go, and you can adjust it to your preferences.

Have a Schedule ✅

Create a rough outline of the interview and how it will progress before you begin. If your interview will be broken into sections, how long will each last? How many questions will be in each section? This helps you stay on track (and on time) and can keep you calm. It might be helpful to share with your audience and interviewee so they have an idea of what to look forward to!

Warm Up ✅

This is specifically for Radios or Livestream interviews. Don’t bring your interviewee up right away: spend a few minutes connecting with the audience, telling them about the interview, and generally grabbing their interest.

Break the Ice ✅

At the start of the interview, give your interviewee a little time to introduce themselves. This can be with a simple “tell us a little more about yourself.” Or you can ask an icebreaker question and make it a little more fun. We recommend a combo of both! And our go to icebreaker? Two truths and a lie.

Don’t Interrupt… ✅

Let your interviewee finish their answer! Even if they start to veer off track or you think of something you’d like to add, it’s their show. Give them time to elaborate before you move on.

But Do Follow Up! ✅

After they’ve answered, feel free to add onto it. If you have a question or something to contribute related to their answer, you can ask it. We recommend doing this often: it shows you were listening and often helps the interviewee relax!

Stay On Topic ✅

While we do encourage asking follow up questions when you think of them, don’t go down a rabbit hole. Keep the conversation on track and try to follow the interview questions you have planned. Don’t be afraid to rework them a little if you need to guide the conversation back.

You want to stay mindful of the time. If your guest has agreed to an hour, try not to let the interview go over an hour. It won’t hurt if you go five minutes over, but be considerate of their schedule.

Have a Solid Final Question ✅

Every good interview has an important last question. This will seem counterintuitive, but it’s the last moment we get with your guest. Give them the opportunity to leave us with a good first impression!

Audience Questions 🎙️

If you’re hosting a Livestream or Radio interview, we recommend leaving space for audience questions. For one, it keeps them engaged: for another, they’ll ask new questions you probably hadn’t thought of.  We always ask audience questions in our interviews – it’s our favorite part! Here’s some of our top tips.

When Will You Ask Them? 🎧

Decide if you’ll ask questions throughout the interview or at the end. For a Livestream, you can do both: ask questions related to the current topic during the interview, then open it up at the end. For a Radio, we recommend saving the audience questions until the end. This keeps the interview moving and lets you get through all your questions first! Be sure to tell your audience and interviewee when you’ll ask for audience questions.

It’s All About Your Guest 🧡

Only ask questions about your guest – or questions your guest could answer. Now’s not the time for questions about your upcoming projects or for them to pitch their own ideas. Let them know you’ll only be asking questions about the interviewee and stick to it.

Don’t Ask Every One 🙅

You do not have to answer every single audience question. Just pick a couple! If you can see the audience questions ahead of time, find the best ones and go from there. But if you’re in a Radio or can’t preview them, go with who you see asking first…or who usually has really good questions!

We recommend asking between three and five questions. That will likely be a good chunk of them, and won’t run you over time.

FAQs 🙋

I ran out of questions early!

Eek! Don’t panic, this will happen to literally every interviewer. If you run out of questions early, think back on the rest of your conversation and ad-lib a few more. You may start asking more general questions instead of things solely based on your guest.

If you’re anxious (like some members of the Clapper team) try coming up with a bank of back up questions before the interview. It’s better to over prepare than be stressed in the moment.

What equipment do I need?

That will depend on the format. If you’re Livestreaming, we recommend a good mic and a good background. This might be a solid wall or something with a fun pattern! Visually, you’ll also want to make sure your space is neat or orderly and that we can clearly see you. For a Radio, the main thing you need is a good mic!

Short-f0rm will vary. Some people go with a Livestream style set up, with an aesthetically pleasing location, good lighting, and a solid mic. For a street interview, you’ll need your camera, a mic, and maybe a portable ring light. This article has recommended equipment from the Clapper team!

What do I do if there’s technical issues or an awkward moment?

First, remain calm. Every interviewer will have to go through this at some point, and your audience will probably be forgiving. Don’t freak, don’t stress: just take a breath and remain calm.

For technical issues, address it! Apologize to your guest and the audience for any potential issues. Then try to fix it: try a few quick fixes to see what it might be. When everything’s back up and running, apologize again and dive back in. Don’t worry about it once it’s fixed. But again, if you’re anxious like some of us, you can do a quick technical run through before you start.

For awkward moments, try to transition into something new. Maybe diffuse with humor if you can, but still move on. After the interview, spend a little time reflecting on the interview and how you could prevent or recover from a similar situation in the future.

In Closing 👋

Interviews are a fantastic way to connect with other creators and learn more about new niches and communities. But they aren’t as easy as going Live or hosting a Radio on your own. They’ll require a little more preparation for the interviewer.

This article will serve as that preparation and foundation. Start with our tips and hard-earned advice, and adjust them to fit your own style as you record. Like with any other kind of content creation, you’ll learn what works best for you. And as an the interviewer and host, you get to do what works best for you.

Good luck with you interview! We can’t wait to tune in.