15 Tips on Interviewing a Source for a Story
- Date: 2007-11-15 - Word Count: 398
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Here's my collected wisdom from years of interviewing people for stories:
1. Make an appointment. Few people will talk on the spot. When making the appointment, tell the other person how long you think the interview will take.
2. Do your homework on the interviewee. No matter what you may have heard, there is such a thing as a stupid question. If you ask one, be prepared for a short, uncomfortable interview.
3. Outline your story as best you can before the interview. You'll have a better idea of what information you need from your source to fill out the piece.
4. Write down your questions and number them in the order you will ask them. Make sure your questions follow a logical sequence.
5. Cut down on the small talk before the interview. Both you and the interviewee know why you're there. May as well get on with the agenda. But see the next tip for an exception to this rule.
6. Build rapport with the source first if there's any controversy or antagonism around your subject.
7. Recording interviews doesn't always help. I've given up recording people, because I used to spend too much time playing and replaying the recording so I could get their words right. Now, I rely on solely my notes -- unless I'm doing a verbatim Q&A-style interview with light editing.
8. Keep questions short. Save your multi-part questions for the next time you cover a presidential press conference.
9. Ask your question, then stop talking. Don't try to fill in any silences.
10. The best questions are open-ended -- like those that begin with what, why and how. Try to get a story.
11. Repeat key answers back to the interviewee to show you understood them. This will dispose the interviewee kindly toward you.
12. After your questions are over, invite the source to add more information. Say: "Is there anything else I should be asking that I'm not?"
13. Write the interviewee's name -- check the spelling -- and job title or rank. Ask how he or she would like to be identified. "Should I refer to you as Bob or Robert?"
14. Transcribe your notes ASAP after the interview. If you wait for even a few hours, you won't be able to decipher your scribblings. Highlight key facts, quotes, stories.
15. If you take a photograph, get names and job titles of the people in it, from left to right.
Finally, a bonus tip: Talk Less, Listen More.
1. Make an appointment. Few people will talk on the spot. When making the appointment, tell the other person how long you think the interview will take.
2. Do your homework on the interviewee. No matter what you may have heard, there is such a thing as a stupid question. If you ask one, be prepared for a short, uncomfortable interview.
3. Outline your story as best you can before the interview. You'll have a better idea of what information you need from your source to fill out the piece.
4. Write down your questions and number them in the order you will ask them. Make sure your questions follow a logical sequence.
5. Cut down on the small talk before the interview. Both you and the interviewee know why you're there. May as well get on with the agenda. But see the next tip for an exception to this rule.
6. Build rapport with the source first if there's any controversy or antagonism around your subject.
7. Recording interviews doesn't always help. I've given up recording people, because I used to spend too much time playing and replaying the recording so I could get their words right. Now, I rely on solely my notes -- unless I'm doing a verbatim Q&A-style interview with light editing.
8. Keep questions short. Save your multi-part questions for the next time you cover a presidential press conference.
9. Ask your question, then stop talking. Don't try to fill in any silences.
10. The best questions are open-ended -- like those that begin with what, why and how. Try to get a story.
11. Repeat key answers back to the interviewee to show you understood them. This will dispose the interviewee kindly toward you.
12. After your questions are over, invite the source to add more information. Say: "Is there anything else I should be asking that I'm not?"
13. Write the interviewee's name -- check the spelling -- and job title or rank. Ask how he or she would like to be identified. "Should I refer to you as Bob or Robert?"
14. Transcribe your notes ASAP after the interview. If you wait for even a few hours, you won't be able to decipher your scribblings. Highlight key facts, quotes, stories.
15. If you take a photograph, get names and job titles of the people in it, from left to right.
Finally, a bonus tip: Talk Less, Listen More.
Related Tags: article, writing, interview, story, case study, interviewee
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