As an interviewer, you are tasked with mining personal conversations for compelling content while also maintaining an atmosphere of respect, empathy, and dignity for your interviewee. Striking that delicate balance between good storytelling and authentic, compassionate interviewing is an essential skill.

Tolsma Productions recently spent time with digital strategist and ethnographic interview expert Elisabeth Reinkordt to explore how seasoned interviewers bring out the best in their interviewees. 

Ready to become a more authentic interviewer? Here are some interview techniques you can start practicing today:

John Orr from Art-Reach discusses using captioning to increase accessibility and boost engagement

“Everyone loves video. Everyone loves multimedia, but it's not always needed. So think about how you're going to use it. Why you're going to use it is really important.” You also need to think where this position would fit with your current communications or tech team. Determine if the role fills a gap or if there are staff members already handling video-related tasks.

We talk to digital strategist Elisabeth Reinkordt about interview techniques to improve video storytelling for fundraising and general nonprofit communications.

Representation Matters! Especially in fundraising and the nonprofit world…

Your Executive Director isn’t always the answer–fundraising professionals often make great storytellers!

Don’t Say Action Just Yet! Ten questions you should ask before starting your next video production.

Even before the days of “virtual everything” many of the videos we produced were created for use at fundraising galas or annual meetings. Many of our clients’ first impulse is to have their executive director or board chair serve as the main voice of their event. We get it, they’re a familiar face, with knowledge of your organization. However, unless your organization has rockstar leaders who love being on camera, you might want to give that impulse a second thought. Hiring a professional to serve as your master of ceremonies can pay dividends–you’ll earn and retain your audience’s attention, save your own staff the hassle, AND increase your promotional opportunities. Most importantly, you can raise more money! Let’s explore each of these points a bit more:

With the lockdown and physical distancing making travel difficult, we’ve been forced to improve our remote interview game.

Catch up on the webinar we taught with the Association of Fundraising Professionals - Greater Philadelphia Chapter.

Don’t put the virtual cart before the cyborg horse; start your virtual-event planning by asking yourself these six questions

As of mid-March, more of us are working from home than ever before. We're all “Zooming” with co-workers, board members, and donors. We know that you're creating your own do-it-yourself content to post on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. Our team has spent years putting others in front of the camera. Now, from our home offices and bedrooms we’ve subjected ourselves to the same treatment. All the videos below were shot with the tools on hand–our smartphones or webcams. We hope you’ll have questions–contact us!