Unit 36P1/Unit 37 P1 Interview and presenting techniques

This report will explain interviews/presenting techniques used by professional journalists or presenters. I am going to talk
about Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen DeGeneres is an American television host, and an actress. She has hosted a talk show called
The Ellen DeGeneres Show since 2003. The Ellen
DeGeneres talk show is launched at daytime, what makes her talk show interesting is that she interviews several celebrities
such as Sharon Osbourne, Will Smith and many more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnzl1O9RpzY
this is a clip of Ellen DeGeneres interviewing Will Smith on her show. He discusses his kids and family life. I thought this
interview was really good, because she's very professional and I thought the interview ran smoothly. I noticed that while she
was interviewing Will Smith she was not using notes. This shows that she was prepared and organised to interview him,
most interviewers think that preparing questions is vital in planning the interview. The disadvantages of looking at questions,
whilst interviewing your guests is that it could become a distraction. Also eye contact is lost, it is important to have eye
contact during an interview because it shows that you are engaging with your guests as well as the audience, which I
noticed Ellen doing. I also noticed that Ellen was listening carefully to her interviewee which shows us that she was
concentrating on his answers.
I examined the different techniques she used in her interview and I noticed she used Open questions, which are the Who,
What, Where, When, Why and how At the beginning of the interview, to make the interview flow she asked Will Smith
"Where have you been" "What have you been doing" this is an example of an Open Questions.
Her questions where carefully structured to create good questions to make the interview run smoothly. Ellen did not use
closed questions which produce yes and no answers because this may make the interview very awkward. She progressed
from point to point; her questions were related to her previous one. An example of her progressing point to point was when
she asked Will Smith about Willow Smiths new single. She asked She has a new single right" and when he answered she
then asked "What is the name of it" As you can see the question related to the previous one. Although she asked Double
questions, it still worked out well because the questions were short and simple like "Where have you been? What have
you been doing?"
The other technique I noticed was that she always kept her questions relevant. She kept all her questions revolving around
Will Smiths kids and family life; she didnt go off the topic talking about something else. She stayed positive interviewing Will
Smith, and not once did she sound ignorant because shes genuinely a nice person. Ellen DeGeneres target audience are
mostly females 18-54. This is because its a talk show which females are most interested in because of the gossip and latest
news.
This interview style was entertainment as well as light- hearted. Her communication skills were good, because she was
listening carefully to what Will Smith was saying and her body language showed that she was calm and relaxed. The
purpose of this interview is for the audience to understand Will Smiths family life.
Ellen DeGeneres verbal techniques was calm and relaxed, her tone of voice was composed, she often took her time to
speak; she did not' rush into things at all. The set and costumes for her show are really calm. The set for her show changes
depending on who she decides to interview. No matter who she interviews her set is always calm and lively. Ive noticed in
many of her shows she mostly has trees as her background, this could mean something to her. It may symbolize the
characteristics and qualities of Ellen. Her costume is never too over the top, she is always dressed smartly but casual.
You would never find her wearing a dress on her show, usually she wears suits, or jeans and a smart shirt with a waist coat.
It appears she dresses like this because of her sexuality.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4Ezruu1oeQ
the next interview I am going to talk about Is Chris Stark interviewing Mila Kunis off the Scott Mills show on Radio 1. The
purpose of this interview was for Mila Kunis to promote her latest film which was called Oz, unfortunately this didnt go well.
Reasons being are because this interview was highly unprofessional, I noticed that the interviewee who was
Chris Stark was very nervous, this is because he mentioned he was nervous many times and I could tell from his body
language. At the beginning of the interview, he mentioned he was petrified because he has never interviewed someone
before. Mila Kunis asked him What about this is frightening to you" and he said the fact that he was interviewing her, and
there were a lot of people watching him. This made him feel like it was an unnatural experience.
He often scratched his head and looked around the room; his body language shows that he was nervous and lost. At the
beginning of the interview, he didnt ask an open question, this shows that he is not confident. Chris Stark just explained
how he was petrified and how it was his first time interviewing someone. It is important to ask an open question, because it
engages the audience to the subject matter. I noticed that Chris Stark had notes on his lap, using notes whilst interviewing
someone can be really distracting because you have to stick to the list of questions you wrote down which may not be good
because you may go off topic. A disadvantage of using notes whilst interviewing a guest is that eye contact is lost, this
happened regularly when Chris was interviewing Mila Kunis his eyes kept looking down to his note which he did blatantly.
The whole purpose of the interview was for Mila Kunis to promote her film which didnt happen because the questions were
not relevant to her film. He was not asking her questions related to her film, he was asking her questions about things he
was comfortable with which was football matches, drinks, bombs etc. Chris Stark asked her if she wanted to come to the
pub with him, this question was irrelevant and very unprofessional.
During the interview he admitted he was trying to engage with her, but he thought he werent doing a good job so he
discussed things which he thought would make him comfortable. Although things didnt go to plan, it seemed that Mila Kunis
enjoyed her interview. Although Chris went off topic a few times, he did ask one question which was related to her film which
was Did you enjoy being ugly for once in your film? This question is a closed question because Mila Kunis could have
said yes or no. Although he asked a question relating to her film, thats not a suitable question to ask someone professional.
He didnt ask any Open questions which were the Who, what, where, why and how. He often progressed point to point but
with the topic he was talking about which was not relevant. Towards the end of the interview, a lady interrupted them
because she wasnt keen on the interview this was because she wasnt promoting her movie. Mila Kunis took over the
interview and gave him answers she thought he would ask her about the movie. After she did that the interviewee still went
off topic, talking about things which werent relevant.
Chris Stark interview styling was promotional, because Mila Kunis was supposed to promote her latest film. His
communication skills were appalling, his body language showed he was nervous and uncomfortable however, he did listen
to what she was saying carefully. The context of this interview was a Radio interview which was recorded in the studio. The
purpose of this interview was to enhance of the target audience to this film in order for them to understand crucial
information about the film. His verbal techniques, such as his tone of voice were very breathless and slow although there
were times when he rushed to ask questions. His dress sense and his visual appearance was average. He dressed like an
ordinary person wearing a smart shirt; this suggests that he's a regular man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl_S2VOvVDw

there is many interview styles, such as investigative. I am going to talk about an investigative interview which was a 3 way
debate about Politics and pasties over hot food. This interviewing type is hard news/combative because this interview was
very challenging. Investigative interview is a style of interview that reporters investigate a topic of interest which either
involves crime or politics. This interview was presented by Jeremy Paxton who is an English journalist; he has been working
for the BBC since 1977. The interview starts by an introduction, he introduced the topic of the discussion which was George
Osborne announcing to extend VAT on things like pies and sausage rolls. Jeremy Paxton then explained how The Prime
minister David Cameron claimed to love eating Pasties. During the interview the interview he
showed a video clip of David Cameron saying how he loves eating pasties, he claimed the last one he bought was at West
Cornel at a pasty company in Leeds station. This caused confusion over the Prime minister comments, after someone did
an investigation it later emerged that the Pasty Company in Leeds station shut down many years ago. Jeremy Braxton used
investigative technique to gather information by using such as video/audio recordings to back up information as evidence. It
seemed that Nadhim Zahwai which is a Conservative MP was trying to defend David Cameron on his comment. Whilst he
was trying to talk Jeremy Paxton often interrupted him on several occasions.
There were times when he asked leading questions, which is basically putting words in peoples mouth and assuming
things. Jeremy Paxton sounded ignorant at times by interrogating the other politicians. He did this by
asking leading questions and butting in whilst they were talking. In this interview he seemed aggressive; I think this is
because of his body language. He did a lot of hand movements in the politicians face which is quit intimidating
and tough on them. Jeremy Paxton didnt use notes in his interview this shows us that he was much organised to have a
discussion with the two politicians. Usually most interviewers use notes whilst interviewing or having a discussion to keep
them on track. The disadvantages of looking at questions whilst interviewing is rather distracting. Also eye contact is lost, it
is important to have eye contact because it shows that you are engaging with your guests which I noticed Jeremy Braxton
doing a lot, although they were times where it seemed where hed rather be somewhere else. The type of questions he
asked were both open and closed questions, this worked well because the discussion flowing because of the type of
questions he asked. The politicians did answer them also in an aggressive way which I thought was rude but what they
were discussing was debatable which made it interesting. He asked questions which were relevant to the topic, not once did
he go off topic, there were many techniques he used in this interview such as progressing point to point and building
bridges. This helps the interview work out.
BBC News targets older people that are middle class who are interested in the news; it covers daily news, reports and live
interviews. Jeremy Paxman tone was very settled in the interview, he didnt change the tone of his voice. He used
Standard English throughout the interview, this is because he is very professional and the people he was interviewing were
two politicians. This journalist context was hard news, and the purpose of this interview was to
reveal to truth about what David Cameron said about buying a pasty.
BBC News presenters tend to dress smartly, this is important because this is what the viewers at home see you in. It also
makes you look presentable and it gives you an impression that they know what they're talking about. Jeremy Paxman and
other news presenters are very well spoken, this is important because it makes their speech clear. They use correct
terminology and correct pronunciation this also makes what they're saying very clear. It would be ridiculous if they started
using slang whilst presenting because it wouldn't be appropriate for BBC target audience, which are middle class people.
His communication skills were awful, his body language seemed like he didn't want to be there, it was rather aggressive
which gives us the impression that he has authority. He tended to interrupt the two politicians when they were talking. This
shows that he did not care about what they had to say about the topic.
The BBC is seen as the voice of truth which are targeted at middle class audience, their job is to get the best out of license
fee payers. The BBC do a lot more to serve all audience.


The target audience for BBC News night would be different from Ellen DeGeneres as well as the Radio interview. BBC
News night targets a different audience from Ellen DeGeneres and the Radio interview. This interview style is differential
from Ellen DeGeners and Christ Stark interview style because this Jeremy Paxton style is hard news, investigative as well
as combative. The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Radio 1 and Jeremy Paxton are three different interviewing/presenting
techniques. Ellen DeGeneres and Jeremy Paxton are both professional presenters whereas Chris Stark was very
unprofessional. They are also different because their show is targeted at different audience, The Ellen DeGeneres show is
targeted at females from the ages 18- 54, Radio 1 is targeted at young adults and the BBC News night is targeted at Elder
people. Also they are all different formats; The Ellen show is a chat show which is a style of entertainment and promotional
purposes. The Radio 1 interview is a radio interview, which is a style of promotional because Mila Kunis came on there to
promote her latest film. Lastly the BBC News night interview was investigative. The interview style was hard news and
combative, Jeremy Paxton mission was to investigate the truth behind David Cameron words, also to debate whether the
prices of hot food should go up because of VAT. The different type of presenting style creates different effects depending on
the interview style your interview is. Ellens Show is a chat show which is entertaining, so it would have a calm effect which
may be lively at times depending on what guest she interviews. Jeremy Paxton would have a different effect because his
style is different which is combative and investigative which may seem calm and formal although they may be a bit of
arguments. However these three examples are similar in the sense that they all have a purpose of their interview. They are
similar because they all use a similar questioning type such as Open/Closed question, progressing point to point and many
more.

For my course work, I would use these techniques in my work while Im interviewing a guest. Before my interview I will make
notes, this is because it would help me for preparation although I wont use my notes whilst Im interviewing my guest
because I may find this really distracting. I am going to ask several Open questions and try not to ask closed questions this
is because the guest may feel awkward and just answer with a yes/no. The Who, what, where, when, why and how is going
to be my framework. I am going to keep my questions short and avoid asking double questions which may call for
monologues because I wouldnt want my guest answering my question for about 2 minutes or so because the audience may
get bored of what they are saying. All my questions are going to be relevant to my subject matter, and Im going to progress
point to point building bridges to maintain a flow. Each of my questions is gradually going to expand from my previous one to
build bridges. There are things I need to avoid doing when interviewing my guests, which are asking leading questions.
Leading questions may come across as a bad thing because the guest may think I am trying to trap them with a question
which could make the interview really awkward. It is very important for me to do my research before asking any questions,
this is because you can ask questions which are out of date. I also need to be aware of sounding ignorant.