# Prepare for the telephone interview

A telephone interview asks a stranger to stay on the line, so the interviewer has to be ready for a bad time, a broken call and a question about why any of it matters.

Walking up to someone with a questionnaire is one kind of nerve. Phoning a stranger and asking them to stay on the line is another. They did not ask for the call. They may not want the questions. Prepare for that.

Be prepared to call at the wrong time. Be prepared to call back, and to call back at the wrong time again. Be prepared for a bad line. Be prepared to stop before the questionnaire is finished. Be prepared for hostility. Be prepared to explain a question, to be interrupted, and to give the background of the survey. Be prepared to be pleasant, and to meet someone pleasant. Be prepared to give your credentials. Be prepared to take notes.

## On the call

State who you are and why you are calling, in the first sentences, and ask whether this is a good time. Offer to call later. That respects their time and lets you book the interview.

Use a line you have tested. In 2011 we told interviewers to use a landline so the call would not drop. A dropped call still wastes the interview and annoys the person on the other end. A mobile is usable if you have checked the signal and the call holds. A desk phone is usable on the same test. If the line fails, apologise and arrange the rest of the interview.

Smile while you talk, when you are tired and when the person is annoyed.

Number every case, or leave the case open in the calling system, so a stopped interview can resume at the right question. Know the questionnaire, including every "if no, go to". Know why each question is there. People ask why you need to know that, and you need a plain answer tied to the aim of the survey.

Work from a quiet place. Keep the interview on the questions. Be willing to talk, and do not let the call turn into a long story that never reaches the next item.

## Practise interviewing

Record yourself and play it back. Do not put on a different voice. A put-on voice is hard to keep for a whole shift, and the explanations suffer. Speak as you usually speak. Practice takes out some of the "um" and "uh", and it makes the questionnaire familiar. Practise the thank-you at the end.

## After the interview

File the questionnaire and the notes so data entry can start. On a computer-assisted call the answers are already stored. Check them, and file any note you wrote beside the script, before you dial the next number.

## Updated October 2026

- The landline instruction is withdrawn. The requirement is a line you have tested, mobile or desk, that holds for the interview.
- "Nine out of ten" was a turn of phrase in the 2011 post, not a count from a study, and it has been removed.
- Smiling on the call is kept as interviewer practice. The 2011 post said it changes the tone of the voice. No study was added for that.
- A stopped interview can resume from a numbered paper instrument or from an open case on a computer-assisted system. No completion rate was added.


Source: https://balcostics.com/blog/telephone-interview/