I interview every ghostwriting client on Zoom. It’s the foundation of every project. Before I write a single word of someone’s book, I spend hours in video interviews with them, sometimes across weeks, extracting their stories, their voice, their perspective.
The quality of those interviews determines the quality of the book. After hundreds of these sessions, I’ve learned what works, what doesn’t, and what kills a good interview before it starts.
These tips cover client interviews for a ghostwriting project, interviews for journalism or content creation, and preparation for a job interview. The principles are the same: preparation, environment, technology, and the ability to have a real conversation through a screen.
How do you set up the technology for a video interview?
I use Zoom for almost every interview. It’s reliable, clients already know how to use it, and the recording quality is good enough for my purposes.
The platform matters less than making sure it works before the interview starts. For more, see capturing client voice and What Does a Ghostwriter Cost? Real Pricing, Real Client Results, and How to Choose the Right Tier.
Test your camera, microphone, and internet connection before the call.
Not five minutes before. The day before. If your webcam produces a dark, grainy image, fix it. If your microphone picks up every sound in the house, get a better one. If your internet drops during calls, switch to a wired connection or find a more reliable setup. Technical problems during an interview break the flow of conversation, and once that flow is broken, it’s hard to get back.
Know the platform’s basics: how to mute, how to share your screen if needed, how to record. If you’re recording the interview, tell the other person before you hit the button. This is legally required in many states, and it’s basic courtesy everywhere else. Zoom can notify participants automatically, but don’t rely on that. Say it out loud.
Your Environment Counts for More Than You Think
Find a quiet space with a clean background. What’s behind you on camera communicates something about you whether you intend it to or not. A cluttered background suggests a cluttered mind. A professional, uncluttered space suggests someone who takes the interaction seriously.
Lighting makes or breaks how you look on camera. Face a window if you can. If you can’t, put a light source in front of you. Backlighting turns your face into a silhouette, and the other person spends the entire call trying to see your expressions instead of listening to what you’re saying.
Tell everyone in your household that you’re on a call. Close the door. Mute your phone. Shut down notifications on your computer. Every interruption pulls both you and the other person out of the conversation, and some conversations are hard enough to get into that one interruption ends them.
Show Up Like It Matters
Dress like you would for an in-person meeting. Nobody can see your pants, but how you dress affects how you carry yourself. People who show up to professional video calls looking like they just rolled out of bed communicate that the interaction isn’t important enough to prepare for. That message comes through the screen whether you intend it or not.
Look at the camera when you’re speaking. This is counterintuitive because you want to watch the other person’s face, but looking at the screen means you’re looking slightly down or to the side from their perspective. Looking at the camera simulates eye contact. It feels unnatural at first. Practice until it doesn’t.
Sit up straight. Don’t fidget. Don’t multitask. The other person can tell when you’re reading email during a call even if they can’t see your screen. Your eyes move differently, your responses come half a second late, and your engagement drops in ways that are obvious to anyone paying attention.
How Do You Run a Video Client Interview?
My ghostwriting interviews are structured but conversational. I come in with questions prepared, but I let the client talk. The best material almost always comes from tangents, from the story they didn’t plan to tell, from the detail they mention casually that turns out to be the emotional core of an entire chapter.
Occasionally clients try to rush the process or take control of the interview. They want to skip ahead, cover everything in one session, or steer the conversation toward what they think is important instead of following the questions I’ve prepared. When this happens, I bring them back and explain that we need to follow the process to give them the best book possible. The interview structure exists for a reason. It’s designed to extract material that the client doesn’t even know they have, and rushing it means missing the best parts of their story.
The most important skill in a video interview is listening.
I record every interview. The recordings become the raw material for the book. After each session, I create an AI-generated summary using Claude, which gives me a structured overview of what was covered, key quotes, and themes that emerged. I don’t use Zoom’s built-in summary feature because it doesn’t produce the depth or organization I need. The AI summary becomes a working document I reference throughout the writing process, but it doesn’t replace listening to the recordings themselves.
I go back to the audio multiple times, catching details I missed in real time, hearing the way the client emphasizes certain words, noticing where their voice changes when they talk about something that matters to them. These details shape the voice of the manuscript in ways that summaries alone can’t capture.
Each session is recorded, summarized, then relistened to, because the audio carries the voice a summary cannot.
The most important skill in a video interview is listening.
Really listening, instead of waiting for your turn to talk. When the other person feels heard, they open up. When they open up, the material gets better. When the material gets better, the book gets better. Everything flows from the quality of attention you bring to the conversation.
My take
Good video interviews come down to listening, and most people are bad at it. They wait for their turn to talk while the best material goes right past them. I record every session and go back to the audio more than once, because the way a client leans on a word tells me how the book should sound. An AI summary helps me keep track, and it never replaces the recording. Get the tech sorted, then shut up and listen.
How do you prepare to be interviewed on video?
Prepare, but don’t over-rehearse. Scripted answers sound scripted, and the interviewer can tell. Know the main points you want to make, but deliver them conversationally. The best interviews feel like conversations. Answer the question that was asked instead of the one you wish they’d asked. This is the most common mistake in any interview format. The interviewer asked something specific. Address it directly before expanding into related territory. If you don’t understand the question, ask for clarification. That’s respect for the other person’s time.
Follow up afterward. A brief email thanking the interviewer and referencing something specific from the conversation shows that you were paying attention and that you value the interaction. This is basic professional courtesy, and the number of people who skip it is unusual.
| Area | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Technology | Test camera, microphone and connection the day before | Tech problems break the flow of conversation |
| Recording | Tell the other person out loud before you record | Legally required in many states; courtesy everywhere |
| Background | Quiet space, clean and uncluttered | What’s behind you says something about you |
| Lighting | Face a window or put a light in front of you | Backlighting turns your face into a silhouette |
| Interruptions | Close the door, mute your phone, shut down notifications | One interruption can end a conversation |
| Presence | Dress as for an in-person meeting and look at the camera | Looking at the camera simulates eye contact |
| Focus | Sit up straight; don’t fidget or multitask | People can tell when you’re reading email |
| Listening and answers | Listen instead of waiting to talk; answer the question asked | When people feel heard, they open up |
| Follow up | Send a brief thank you that mentions something specific | Shows you were paying attention |
Interviews are where every ghostwritten book begins. The Ghostwriting Advantage explains the rest of how a ghostwriter gets your book written for you, across forty-eight chapters.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Recording phone calls and conversations: Legal guide from the Citizen Media Law Project, The Journalist’s Resource (Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center)
- New Setting: Recording Disclaimer Enabled, Johns Hopkins University IT
