Showing up with a microphone can make a lot of people nervous. How do you help them get past the nerves to share their story?

In this 2 hour workshop, you'll learn some practical tips for getting intimate and compelling interviews - the kinds of conversations that make the listener feel like they're sitting beside you. Responses that make you pause and think, or lend nuance to a topic you might have already heard a lot about. We’ll explore techniques in a hands-on way and learn how to make interviewing less intimidating – both to you and the person you’re talking to, be it a community leader, a family member, or the business owner down the street.

We will focus on narrative field-based interviewing, as well as some in-studio interviewing techniques. Please note that we're focusing on "everyday" people - not academics, politicians, and other professional talkers. However, we will talk about building trust, where to sit during an interview, whether the order of the questions matter, and much more.

This workshop is designed for beginning audio producers.

Social handles: @byheidishin (Twitter), @shinherrie3 (Instagram)

About Heidi Shin:

Heidi Shin is a journalist, podcast producer, and writer. She’s especially interested in the stories of immigrant communities and the inevitable connections between stories abroad and our lives in the US. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, California Sunday Magazine, Snap Judgment, Atlas Obscura, The Queens Memory Project, 70 Million Podcast, BBC, WGBH, and PRI’s The World, amongst other outlets. Heidi also teaches about podcasting at the PRX Podcast Garage, Harvard University’s Sound Lab, and leads Boston’s Sonic Soiree. You can find her online @byheidishin (Twitter) and @shinherrie3 (IG)