Preproduction makes production makes post-production. It's one of my favorite and most-said aphorisms from the video production process. If you do the legwork before the shoot you're much more likely to capture quality material than if you just show up day-of and try to wing it which will mean that the post-production process will be easier and turn out much better of a piece of media.

Interviewing is no different. There are many different ways you can prepare both yourself and your interviewees before you hit record to create the a container of trust and intimacy. In this episode I cover five:

I've done hundreds of interviews over the course of my career for video production projects, documentary films, news stories, live on-air talk shows, and non-recorded pre-interviews.

But what's more important to me is the response that I get from the people that I interview. They describe interviewing with me as "fun" and "relaxing" and "way less stressful than they thought that it was going to be!" Oftentimes interviewing is not an experience that look forward to or look back on fondly! But somehow I've figured out tips and tricks to make it enjoyable and productive too!

So, what are five of the most-important lessons that I've learned about making interviews an awesome experience for both interviewer and interviewee plus getting some awesome bytes that I can share with my audience?

In this episode, I talk about those five points. They include:

      1) Respect the ask

"It's great that you care so much about interviewing, Will, but why should I care? I don't have to interview anyone for my job or in my personal life!"

Well, odds are you probably do! Or at minimum you do things that could be greatly improved by learning and applying many of the tips, tricks, tools, and principles that make someone a better interviewer!

In this episode, Will explores exactly who would benefit from learning to become a better interviewer, including professional interviewers, people in marketing, PR, and client relations, creatives, mental health professionals, and just general folk who want to be better at having conversations with people who they care about getting to know.

And if you're not on that list, you should listen anyways! Odds are there's some way you could grow by learning, at least a little bit, the art of the interview!

How many of you want to create media that is both beautiful and powerful? Media which enthralls people with your technical prowess, moves people's hearts, and changes them for the better?

But what about media which is ethical? We don't often think about the ethics behind the media that we create and how we create it.

In this episode, I share my journey from my childhood dream of filmmaking through anorexia, spiritual agnosticism, and hopelessness for change through media and into my present dream of making media that fits all three categories - and now interviewing fits into this!

There are many different types of interviews. News interviews. Podcast interviews. Or just having coffee with a friend - that's an interview. And what I've found over years of doing them is that many of the same principals apply to all the different types. 

In this episode, I define what an interview is for the purposes of this podcast. Then I explain why I think that being mindful of interviewing is important not just for people who's job it is to do them but also those who do it casually and your average Joes.