Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 What is an Interview?

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 Skills to Work on: Asking astute questions Listening carefully to what is being said Recording the responses (a small tape recorder is very handy) Writing up a verbatim draft (question/answer) Selecting and ordering the responses Writing the final draft Verifying the article with the person interviewed before it goes to print

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 Preparation: Always have a clear purpose in mind when you request an interview. For example, Dr. Miller, I would like to interview you to get your views on... Always do background research so you can focus on something specific to start the interview. Always prepare some questions in advance to get the interview underway.

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 Preparation: Always spell and pronounce the persons name correctly. Many interviewers use a pattern of questioning that follows the 5 Ws & H: Who are you What do you do When do you find the time to do this? Where did you become interested in this? Why have you continued in this direction?

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 Preparation: Once the conversation gets going you can let the questions flow more naturally. Always thank the person for their time and indicate that you will let them see the draft article before it is printed.

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 The Write Up: Sometimes the journalist focuses the entire article on the interview. The reader gets an in-depth look at on persons ideas, feeling, and experiences. This is called a Profile.

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 The Write Up: Sometimes the interview becomes part of a larger feature where the journalist uses the interview to support a particular point of view or to provide an eye-witness account of an event.

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 For Example: Football season has started. You might want to interview the star quarter back and do a profile on him. Or, you want to do a feature on high school football and you interview the junior and senior football coaches to gain insight into this years teams. Their opinions form part of the article but they are not the only views explored.

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 Assignment: Find an example of an interview you enjoyed reading. You can look in a magazine of your own (not the one you are researching), the paper, or on- line. Highlight what you think makes the interview an interesting read: for example, did you learn something about the person that you didnt know before?

Mr. Mehrotra EWC 4U0 Good luck.