During the interview, you should be polite but firm. Ask your questions in a confident manner, and listen carefully to the answers. Very often an inexperienced interviewer will simply go through their list of questions, not realising that some of them have already been answered. Use your list of questions as a base for the interview, not a rigid script. Ask follow-up questions. Ask for evidence to support any claims made by the interviewee. Don’t be afraid to ask ‘How do you know that?’ But never ask leading questions. Let the person say what they want to say, not what you want them to say. When ending the interview, you should go back over the main things that have been said. This gives you a chance to review your notes. You should then ask the interviewee if they want to add anything else. And finally, ask if you can contact them again should you need to. OK, so the interview is over, but you have one last task. As soon as possible, sit down and look at your notes. Are they clear? Is there anything else you can add to them? Do this while you can still remember what was said. And write down all the colour you can remember about the person and the place.