Description of the Unit

Unit 1 introduces students to fundamental theoretical principles related to communication in general and interviewing in particular.  The objectives of this unit include:

1) teaching students the interactive nature of verbal and nonverbal communication
2) describing and illustrating components of the interview situation
3) discussing and illustrating the structure of interviews including the opening, body, and closing
4) illustrating various types and uses of questions used in interview situations.

Relevant Chapters

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Interviewing
Chapter 2: The Interviewing Process
Chapter 3: Structuring the Interview
Chapter 4: Questions and their Uses

Potential Activities

• Have students individually, in groups, or as a class view and discuss a sample interview.  As part of the discussion, students should identify communication strategies used by the interviewer and interviewee during the opening, body, and closing stages of the interview.  Students should also evaluate and discuss the questions used by the interviewer.

• Pair students into groups of 2 or 3 and have them conduct informal interviews to find out information about each other.  These interviews should be designed to introduce students to skills associated with developing primary and probing questions.  After all of the students have conducted their informal interviews, they should use that information to introduce their interview partner to the entire class.

• Use a television "sitcom" to have students analyze and discuss listening behaviors.  During typical interpersonal interactions, how do skills related to listening impact the communication process?

• Have students write a two page summary and analysis of an interview they have participated in.  How do their own experiences relate to the principles of communication discussed in Chapter 1?

• Have students develop an interview guide and conduct a brief interview with their grandparents or someone from their grandparents' generation.  The interview guide should contain both primary and potential probing questions.   Although the content of the interview can be left up to the student, the interview should generally be designed to gather information about what it was like to grow up during different time periods.  Students should prepare a brief presentation for the class.  (Note: this activity can also be used for the Journalistic/Probing Interview Unit).

Daily Lesson Plan