How to Record Interviews: A Comprehensive Guide

When conducting many interviews, it's often a significant advantage to record them. A major benefit of recording is the ability to go back and listen to them later, avoiding the risk of missing something important.

Whether you're a researcher conducting interviews in a research project, a doctoral student conducting interviews for your thesis, or working in HR, UX design, or marketing, interviews are a substantial part of your daily routine. Starting to record them will greatly assist you in your work.

In the digital era, the ability to use AI technology for automatic transcription of your recorded interviews has become a valuable resource. This capability enhances searchability and analysis of your recordings, saving a great deal of time and money for those involved in qualitative research.

Five important aspects to consider when recording interviews

1. Avoid Noisy Environments: Avoid noisy environments where it can be challenging to hear what is being said in the recording. If you conduct qualitative interviews in places with significant background noise, it's essential to find a room with good sound isolation. This principle of sound quality is crucial for both you and the interviewee. If you conduct an interview online and experience poor audio quality, it's recommended to kindly ask the interviewee to move to a quieter location to improve recording clarity.
2. Invest in Good Microphones: While the microphone on a mobile phone can often work well, if you conduct many interviews, it's advisable to invest in good microphones to ensure high-quality recordings. There are microphones specifically designed for recording interviews.
3. Speak Clearly: Speaking clearly during interviews will make it easier for you during post-processing. It's also essential to request the interviewee to do the same, to guarantee that nothing is lost during transcription. This will also make transcription more efficient.
4. Avoid Talking Over Each Other: Avoid speaking over the interviewee, as it can be challenging to distinguish who said what afterward. Ensure to provide pauses and reiterate what you have said. Especially during online interviews, it's easy to start speaking simultaneously due to system delays.

Recording Physical Interviews

Even though many interviews nowadays occur in online video calls, it's still essential to record interviews where you meet the interviewee in person. The simplest way is to use your mobile phone to record the interview. If you own an iPhone or an Android phone, such as from Samsung, you can easily use an application on your mobile phone for recording. There are also dedicated voice recorder devices from companies like Olympus and Sony, but in many cases, it's not worth investing in such devices.

How to Record Interviews with iPhone or iPad

If you have an Apple device, recording an interview is straightforward. Ensure your device is fully charged and launch the 'Voice Memos' app, which can be found by searching among your apps. The app is pre-installed on the device. Then, start the recording and initiate the interview. If you want better audio quality for the recorded audio, you can easily connect an external microphone. If you choose to invest in a microphone, it's crucial to buy one compatible with iPhone and iPad.

Recording Interviews with Samsung and Android

For those with a phone or tablet with Android from companies like Samsung or Huawei, it's almost as simple to record interviews. Samsung devices come with a pre-installed app called 'Samsung Voice Recorder,' and Huawei devices also have a pre-installed recording app. If your phone doesn't have a pre-installed app for recording, you can install this app. Just like with iPhone and iPad, it's important to find a microphone compatible with your device if you want to connect an external microphone.

Recording Interviews in Video Meetings

It's becoming increasingly common to conduct interviews over the internet, with Google Meet and Microsoft Teams being two of the most popular platforms. You have the option to initiate a recording directly from Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, but it requires this feature to be enabled within your organization. You can easily check if it's enabled by entering a video meeting and looking for a button to start a recording.

An alternative to recording directly in the video meeting is to use an external service that enters the meeting and records the interview. There are several options available, including:

• Otter.ai: A service from the USA that focuses on automatic meeting notes.
• Fireflies.ai: A US-based service specializing in meeting notes and AI summarization.
• Klang.ai: A Swedish GDPR-secure service specially developed for interviews.

With these services, you can easily start a recording in a video meeting by inviting a bot that automatically records and transcribes the entire interview for you.

For those engaged in qualitative research or conducting interviews in other contexts, our service, Klang.ai, can help you record both physical interviews and interviews conducted online. Don't hesitate to contact us to schedule a call and discover how Klang.ai can enhance your interviews. We are ready to support you.