Prepping for interviews

I just wanted to share what I've been doing so far on the interviews. As I mentioned in a separate post, I've been giving short presentations to key informants prior to asking questions so that they know where we are coming from when we ask the questions. A common misconception is that we are here to evaluate the GEF projects; the presentation is meant to emphasize that impact evaluation asks different questions from project evaluation. It seems to be a good way as well to draw out concerns and questions. The presentation is here if you want to have a look. You can modify and use it if you want. I will probably also present this as an intro during the debriefing/ validation meeting with stakeholders at the end of the country visit.

Also, I have been sending out the list of interview topics separated according to stakeholder group and a two-page brief on the evaluation along with the letter asking for interviews from key informants. This helps them get a better idea of what GEF is, why we're interviewing them, and what about, and they generally come very prepared, with relevant documents as well. You can find the folder of interview topics and the 2-pager brief on the evaluation here, ready to send with your invitation email.

What about you, any tips and tricks to share on preparing for and conducting interviews?