Conducting oral history interviews can be energizing, invigorating, embarrassing, and frustrating, all at the same time. The more prepared you are, as the interviewer, the better your experience will be. Take the time to think about the person you are interviewing--conduct research and share your questions with them in advance. Be sure to not dominate the conversation and become comfortable with silences or pauses, your interviewee may be thinking hard about sharing something important!
For more tips on interview, see the following sites:
Southern Oral History Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Interviewing Tips
UCLA Oral History Center:
Interviewing Guidelines