Interviewing 102: The Transcript

Process

Exercise

Step 1:
Provide one or more short interview clips and transcripts to the entire class. (If your class has done Interviewing 101: The Vox Pop, you can instead have students transcribe their best interviews from that exercise ahead of class and upload both the transcripts and the clips into a shared Google Drive to use in this exercise.) 

Step 2:
Explain the challenge: In teams of three, you will create an original story using these interview transcripts. (If they are using their vox pop transcripts, tell them that, for the purposes of this class, they can’t use any information or material not included in the transcript.)

Step 3: 
Read through the transcripts.

• Option A: Share your own process for reading an interview transcript: model how you look for the best quotes, how you determine which statements are true and which are self-serving, how you identify the crux of the story, and how you mark up a transcript as you go to make the writing process easier. Use this to create a story outline. You can do this with the first page of the same transcript given to the class, or use a completely different transcript for the sake of modelling.
• Option B: Have the class read and annotate the first page of the interview transcript together and share their work aloud. How and where did students annotate (did they underline, highlight, add thoughts in margins)? What did they note (did they write words like, “important,” “jargon,” “lede,” or “quote”)? Discuss how this annotation can be used to create a story outline. You can and should share your own method of analysis. Touch on what makes a good quote, when it’s better to paraphrase, how to handle jargon, what’s a telling detail, what would require a follow up question, etc. 

Step 4:
Together, have the class create a list of best practices for deciphering an interview transcript. This will guide them as they choose the best clips for their story.

Step 5:
Form teams of three and randomly assign each team a story format: audio, video, or print. For each format, give them a time or space constraint:

• Audio: 1 minute
• Video: 1 minute
• Print: 200 words

Step 6: 
Have teams create a story in their assigned format, using only the annotated transcript. Tell students that they can add their own voice or image to complete the story, but they can’t bring in outside footage or archival materials.

Note: depending on the students’ experience level, you may want to provide some more “scaffolding”to help them create a story from a transcript. (E.g., A step-by-step list: Create an outline; create a script; share the script with another group; create a rough cut; final polish)

Step 7:
Have teams share their stories with the class.

Step 8:
Discuss the following questions: 

• What did we notice in these stories?
• How different or similar are the stories (approach, angle, point of view)?
• Which quotes did everyone use? Were they good quotes? Were they altered, and if so, was it appropriate to alter them? Should they have been paraphrased instead?
• Which quotes or aspects of the story do teams think they missed, now that they have heard/seen/read other teams’ stories?
• Did any jargon creep into the story? Or anything self-serving from the interviewee?
• How did the format impact or shape the stories that groups created and how people used the interviews? 

Step 9: 
Reflect on these: 

• What did you learn about interviewing by having to turn an interview into a finished story?
• What did you learn about your ability to discern what makes a good quote or sound byte?
• Did you create the narrative, or did you fall into telling the story that the interviewee wanted you to tell?
• Can you articulate what makes a good quote as opposed to a good point to be paraphrased?

Possible Extensions

• Read a professional interview transcript together (it should be unedited, and include the interviewer’s questions).
  • As students are reading, have them annotate the text to add where they think a question could have been asked, or rephrase a question as it should have been asked.

HAVE QUESTIONS? FEEDBACK?

We’d love to hear about your experience using these activities in your classroom, get your thoughts on what we could improve. Email us at resources@journalismdesign.com or fill out this form.