A nice post from Chuck Fadely on shooting video, aimed at newspaper journalists. It’s all good stuff, but one tip in particular is worth writing on the top of your notes for every interview.

DON’T STEP ON THE AUDIO: Don’t start talking until they’ve stopped. Don’t jump in immediately with another question after they’ve stopped speaking — first, you need a break in between for editing, and second, people hate a vacuum and will sometimes volunteer really great stuff after they’ve directly answered the question.

When asking questions, print journalists tend to ‘hunt’ for quotes. They lead, clarify and shape the dicussion with a view to re-contructing it with a mixture of reported speech and quotes. This just wont work in video, so keep quiet and give visual feedback.

Affirmation – the ‘yes, I am listening and what you are saying is important’ part - is really important in video inteviews and visual feedback not only helps cement this, it also helps drive the interview.

A nod, a smile or a quizzical look can often get as much a response from your interviewee as a spoken ‘yes’ or ‘uh-huh’.