Help the candidate to show themselves in their best light.
Listen carefully to what the candidate says and allow them thinking time to respond to questions.
Try to ensure that your tone is consistent for all candidates, i.e. that you are not more familiar with some candidates.
Avoid leading questions or ones which call for ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers.
Use open questions to encourage the candidate to talk, e.g. “Tell me about a time when …”.
Use probing questions to gain detail, especially if the candidate is being evasive e.g. “Can you explain exactly what your role in the project was..”.
Close the discussion down or move on if the candidate is not providing useful information, e.g. “Thank you but I’d like to move on now to ask you about…” or “I’m sorry that’s the end of my questioning time I’d like to pass you over to my colleague….”.
Unless you are very sure of your ground, take care with humour, as much humour is based on stereotypes.