Preparing for Technical Failure
Launch library · evergreen read
Equipment fails eventually, however well maintained, and thinking through a plan in advance, rather than improvising in a moment of stress, protects both the material being gathered and the composure an interviewer needs to keep the sitting on track. Even the most carefully maintained equipment fails eventually, and planning for that reality is simply realistic.
A simple plan covers the basics: a backup device ready to hand, a clear sense of how much material has already been captured if a failure occurs partway through, and a calm, prepared way of explaining the interruption to the subject without unsettling them further.
Subjects generally respond well to a calm interviewer handling a technical hiccup smoothly. Panic communicates itself quickly, while a composed pause to fix the problem often barely registers as a disruption at all. A composed pause to fix a small problem rarely registers to the subject as any real disruption at all.