Interview format for recording testimonials

To gather testimonials, you need to interview people signing up for the Challenge or ex-smokers and then edit the interviews to feature those parts that are most inspiring or that reinforce good practice messages.  Not everyone will have a great story so be prepared to interview more people than you need to get the best examples.  Some of the best can be invited to take part in live discussions or radio phone-ins. Publicise stories in four phases, corresponding to the different stages of stopping smoking.  Interviewees should be asked to tell about their feelings, attitudes, tactics etc.  Use the following interview questions to guide you.

Thinking about stopping

Up to two weeks before No Smoking Day use stories of people who are going to take the Challenge. A few ex-smokers stories can also be presented. But all the stories should focus on people’s reasons for quitting and their changing attitudes and feelings about smoking. 

Here are some interview questions:

o       Why do (did) you want to stop smoking?

o       How does (did) your smoking help affect other people and their health?

o       How do (did) people close to you feel about your smoking?  What do (did) they say? (You can also interview family members)

o       How do (did) you feel about smoking?  Is it dirty, expensive, messy or socially unacceptable?  How have your feelings changed?  Do (did) you get upset when you think about your smoking?

o       Have (had) you heard about or thought about the difficulties people have when they try to quit smoking?  What do (did) you expect?

Preparing to take the NSD Challenge

Beginning 2 or 3 weeks before the quit date, stories should focus equally on ex-smokers and the people who are going to take the NSD Challenge. The stories should focus on increasing confidence in being able to quit smoking and specific details on things being done to prepare for success. 

o       Who can (could) you count on to listen or help when you need (needed) to talk about quitting and the problems you might have (had)? (You could also interview these people)

o       Do (did) you tell your self you will be able to quit?  What do you say to yourself about whether you will (would) be able to quit?

o       Do you feel you have other problems that might make it hard for you to successfully quit smoking? What will (did) you do about them?

o       What can (did) you do to avoid the things that might remind you of smoking or make you want to smoke?

o       What can (did) you do instead of smoking when you need to deal with stress?

Just before and just after No Smoking Day

For the first week and month after the quit date, stories should continue to focus on both current No Smoking Day Challenge participants and people who have successfully quit smoking.   These stories should focus on specific skills and on social support from family and friends.

o       What do (did) you do at work to avoid being reminded of smoking?

o       What do (did) you do at home to avoid being reminded of smoking?

o       What do (did) you do instead of smoking when you needed to relax?

o       What are (were) some of your short-term substitutes for smoking?

o       What do (did) you think about when you were tempted to smoke?  What do (did) you say to yourself to resist temptation?

o       Who is listening or helping when you need to talk to someone? 

o       What do (did) they say?  (You can also interview these people)

Staying stopped

One week up to one month after No Smoking Day, stories should mostly present NSD Challenge participants who are successfully remaining ex-smokers. Include a few former successful ex-smokers and a few people who tried to quit but relapsed.  For those who relapse the story should focus on what they learned and how that will help them the next time they attempt to quit.  For those who are or have been successful the stories should emphasise replacements for smoking and skills for avoiding relapse. Include changing attitudes about the benefits of not smoking.

o       Have you learned new ways to relax and reduce stress?  What are they? (It is a good idea to show people using their new skills at home or work)

o       Some people say they need to smoke to concentrate and work better.  What do you say?  Have you learned ways to increase concentration?

o       How have you avoided gaining weight? Or lost weight after gaining it?

o       What are the things that might cause you to start smoking again?  What are you doing to prepare for these?

o       Tell me about a time when you nearly started smoking again?  What did you do or say to yourself?  Did anyone help you?  How?

List of useful resources, agencies and websites

No Smoking Day resources, sign-ups for smokers, discussion groups and information for organisers  – www.nosmokingday.org.uk

GASP for resources for most of the disadvantaged groups and props for attracting publicity and photo opportunitieswww.gasp.org.uk

ASH provides an vast library of fact sheets, research papers and information about all aspects of tobacco and health – www.ash.org.uk

QUIT is the charity specialising in helping smokers to quit and they run Asian Quitlines and projects to reach disadvantaged groups. www.quit.org.uk