1.3 Conversations

I wonder if you have a mental image of an interview. Perhaps, the word conjures up a picture of an intense, confrontational television interview between a TV interviewer and a politician, or maybe you think of a chat-show host, or a short snippet of film such as a vox pop, as a TV reporter gets a comment from the ‘ordinary people in the street’.

Figure 4 Jeremy Paxman

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Figure 4 Jeremy Paxman

Figure 4 Jeremy Paxman

What these interviews all have in common is that they are formally organised; but a moment’s thought will remind us of many informal conversations where we have learned something or heard new information. So in addition to formally organised interviews you will also find that informal conversations give you the scope for asking important questions.

Figure 5 An informal conversation taking place by a watercooler

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Figure 5 An informal conversation taking place by a watercooler

Figure 5 An informal conversation taking place by a watercooler

For ease of discussion, I’ll deal with these informal conversations under two headings, planned conversations and unplanned; but, to be honest, there isn’t a hard dividing line between the two types.