Street interviews: quick guide on questions and structure

Street interviews are daunting.

They are also one of the most rewarding experiences I now have as part of filming documentaries. You never know if you will be brushed off or told a story. But if you do get the story, it’s usually incomparable to anything you would get in a studio setting.

That is because people tend to be more comfortable in their natural setting without the daunting studio set-up. You are in their territory, not the other way around.

And that requires some finesse, which is why I put together this quick guide to help us not just complete our next successful street interview, but get it started in the first place.

So without further ado, let’s get into it. And as always, you can skip ahead using the headings below.

Quick links:

• Finding subjects for a street interview

• How to approach people for a street interview

• The best structure for a street interview

• Essential questions for every street interview

• Three things to do at the end of every street interview

Finding subjects for a street interview

Regardless of what your project, subject or theme is, you will likely need to speak to a person. Identifying the right person to approach on the street with your camera, recorder or notebook is an art of its own.

To break it down nice and simply, I recommend simply walking through an area where you expect people relevant to your story would spend their time. Then, scan for people who are:

1. Vocal / Expressive

   For interviews, you want subjects who have no issues talking and sharing their perspectives. If they gesture a lot and use body language, even better. You can recognise those people on the street by seeing how they interact with others, or whether they turn away from you as you walk past.

2. Language proficient

   Depending on your own language skills, you might need to find someone who speaks your language to at least some degree. Of course, if they match all your other criteria, an interview entirely conducted with hands and feet can also be very interesting and unique!

3. Connected

   People who are very involved in their community are usually more interesting to talk to. Look for those who appear to be involved in different work or who seem to know their way around. The more other people they know, the more people they can later connect you with. If the person holds a certain authority in the area, even better!

Obviously, your story might call for certain traits that aren’t listed here, but this is a great start. 

How to approach people for a street interview

From here, the challenge becomes how to approach them. I have a whole blog post on pick-up lines for storytellers and how to approach strangers with a camera, but in short, I recommend approaching:

• confidently. Don’t give them side-eye or glance over awkwardly. Decide whether you want to approach them and then walk up, with confidence. That will communicate that you know what you re on about.

• with a smile. Be friendly, and more often than not, they will be friendly too. Even if they don’t want to partake, they might refer you to someone else.

• with empty hands. Don’t be holding your camera or notebook as you approach. Make it clear that the interaction and connection is more important to you than the shot

• prepared. If you feel uneasy or this is your first time doing this, prepare your first couple lines. Introduce yourself, and make sure you share a little bit about yourself before asking anything in return. Show genuine curiosity and interest and people will most often be delighted.

One more quick tip, if people are happy to partake in your interview, but don’t want to be on camera, offer to leave the lens cap on and just record sound! Some people are much more comfortable this way

The best structure for a street interview

You’ve found your subject, walked up and they’ve agreed to participate in a short interview. But how do you run it? What do you ask? This likely depends on your story or subject, but in general, I recommend following this structure:

1. General Questions: Questions about who they are, their home town, their job, their life and growing up. This is great to help you identify potential questions you wouldn’t otherwise have thought about

2. Specific Questions. Dive deeper into how they came to be here, what led them to make certain decisions or why they hold certain beliefs. When you get so specific that they have to think for an answer, you have hit the right spot

3. Emotional Questions. Now you ask about the underlying emotions. Be careful not to overstep any lines, but try to find out how they feel about their situation, their past and future, and whether others share these emotions. 

4. Open Questions. Towards the end, give some space for them to comment on anything they like. It’s possible you missed an important topic or question that is relevant.

Essential questions for every street interview

Following the structure above, there are a number of questions I almost always ask people on street interviews. They are as follows:

1. General Questions

   • Tell me about yourself (I know I know, technically not a question)

   • Can you describe your home / this place to me visually? (Great question to match with b-roll footage later)

2. Specific Questions

   • What led you to live here?

   • What led you to doing what you do?

3. Emotional Questions

   • What emotion do you associate with x?

   • What values do you associate with your life / this experience?

   • Do your friends / family share your feelings about x?

4. Open Questions

   • Is there anything you want to mention?

   • Is there another question I should have asked or have missed?

Three things to do at the end of every street interview

When you’ve asked all your questions, there three more things left to do:

1. Get their contact details or leave them yours. At the end it is great practice to share your work and be transparent. Most people love seeing themselves onscreen.

2. Ask them for contacts, or who else they know that might have an interesting perspective or could add to your story. People are much more likely to trust you and participate if someone they know introduces you to them.

3. Obtain consent (again), to make sure they are still okay with you using your footage, recording or notes. If this is for a commercial project or will be distributed in any official form, make sure to also have them sign a release form.

And that’s it! I hope this was helpful, and for a more detailed breakdown of how to approach strangers with your camera, click here!

Good luck out there!

Ben