The emphasis of this course is the training of individual communication skills. We will use role-play as the teaching method in each group meeting, by which everybody will have ample opportunity to practise these skills. The experience gained from each role-play will be documented on individual learning points forms.
After this training students should be aware of different interviewing techniques and should be able to apply them.

In this course we will train basic interview techniques for information gathering. While this course is not intended as training for job interviews, the skills learned are applicable to numerous personal interview situations both in the academic realm and beyond.

We will use the techniques and skills needed for the most difficult form of interviewing, the non-directive or open interview. The focus is on qualitative research via face-to-face interviews, which are commonly used in consultancy practice. The problems a consultant typically faces are embedded in information gathering; in order to understand and diagnose a problem, he or she must first gather information. Along with internet or literature research, personal interviews are a primary source of data gathering, allowing the consultant to look for underlying problems. Depth interviews allow the user to uncover information, including attitudes and histories, needed for decision making. These interviews form the backbone of the course, with several different situations and configurations to allow the student ample ability to practice and hone these essential communication skills. Video and observer feedback allow the student to be assessed as their skills develop.

Students will learn to write an interview guide to fit their information gathering needs. They will learn to give constructive feedback, practice active listening skills, silence tolerance, evaluate non-verbal behaviour and conduct several different types of interviews, including the free-attitude interview, the probing interview and the problem clarification interview. A professional interview will be analysed and discussed in the course. Learning goals and outcomes will be the basis for the written assignment which concludes this skills course.

A selection of articles and book chapters will be made available in the Course book.

An advanced level of English
None. Since this course relies heavily on role-plays, students should be able to speak English and write well. - role-plays
nb: Students should have (or borrow) a recording device to tape their interviews (audio or video)
- video feedback