So you were tasked by your teacher to do an interview summary report or essay. Or maybe your superior asked you to. Or maybe it’s just a plain hobby you want to do. Either way, this task is not the easiest thing to accomplish. Aside from conducting interviews with your sources, you need to summarize the essential information you’ve got from them– something that might takes time since you might have acquired a lot of information. This might need a lot of time and energy , but with proper planning and organization, you can achieve writing a good summary report.
But first let’s ask: what does an interview essay or report mean? It’s not something you get to hear on a daily basis, and not something you hear anywhere else. Basically, it is an essay that look into different perspectives on a certain issue, or subject by using proof from interviews with different kinds of people. You get to ask questions to people and listen to their opinions and answers. These kinds of essays can be seen widely in magazines and newspapers. They will interview celebrities, socialites, politicians, and ordinary people. Here are some sample questions that can be asked to your interviewee:
The beauty of interview summary essays or report is that your sources are actual people, not from books or studies. You get also to touch a lot of topics and get to hear and know the different opinions of different people. To make your report or essay more meaningful and special, you can write about your family, friends, the people you look up to, etc. about a certain topic that you both could relate.
Once you are done with your interview, only the half portion of your work is finished. Now comes the trickier part of the task. The first thing you need to do is the analyze the answers of your sources. Ask yourself these types of questions:
Introduction: Decide how you will introduce your essay. Your introduction may have the question you asked. Your opening might want to describe a situation which relates to your question. Example: In your introduction, open with a scenario about approaching a not-so good looking person and that person needs help from you. You are debating if he/she is worth helping or not. You may also use description, statistics, and/or questions in your opening (describe how people usually perceive standards of beauty and end with the question you asked in your interview). You could also begin with a dictionary definition, or a reference to a movie, T.V. show, song, or quote.
Body: List the reasons in order. The body of your essay should follow the order of reasons that you put together from your notes.
Conclusion: Your conclusion must be respond from all the information you’ve gathered. Conclude your summary with a paragraph or two explaining which point-of-view is the most valid, and why. Expound on these answers.
Now that you have gathered enough information and wrote your summary, it’s time for you to submit your paper. Once you’re used to it, writing an interview summary is an enjoyable and easy experience for you to try.
