Just chatted with folks at a video blogging 'birds of a feather' group guided by Ryanne Hodson (coauthor of this video blogging book). She's holding a "how to" learning session on August 13 in SF. {I'll update with info on how to register.} {UPDATE:Registration info available here.}
At this session, one participant asked about how to make a nervous interviewee at ease for a video blog. Here are 11 of the group's suggestions:
(1) don't put the camera between you and the interviewee, if possible. (This means if you can have a tripod it helps, or get good at holding the camera to the side, away from your face.)
(2) give the interviewee a shot of vodka (!)
(3) keep the camera rolling from start to finish, and even start rolling the camera before the "formal" interview is started
(4) be conversational with the interviewee
(5) laugh and chuckle to show that this isn't so stressful
(6) memorize your questions before the interview
(7) LISTEN carefully to what the interviewee says and ask follow ups
(8) tell the interviewee not to look at the camera, and instead look at you
(9) give them some warmup questions
(10) at the end of the interview, don't turn the camer off... keep it rolling and ask the interviewee if there's anything else they want to talk about. typically, the interviewee will say "no" and then launch into a bunch of good stuff
(11) don't interrupt, and don't say "ok" or "uh huh" because it messes up the audio (this is especially true if your microphone is on the camera and closer to your voice than the interviewees). Instead, be "present on your face" - give good eye contact.
Happy vlogging!