Interviewing Techniques Gathering information on a personal level

Why interview? Interviewing actually makes writing articles easier. Instead of coming up with ideas, people get to give you their ideas. Quotes and paraphrases make articles more personal, unique and interesting. Professional reporters must do interviews to gather information.

Quotations and direct sources make your article more credible

How to begin… Always thank the person for their time. Introduce yourself and identify the publication you’re working for. Shake hands. Be professional but friendly. Tell the individual if you will be recording the conversation. Tell the person how long the interview will take:”I have a few questions about the uniform policy. It will probably take us 15 minutes to get through them all.” Have your questions prepared and written out.

As you interview… Be conversational. Don’t be afraid to deviate from your questions if an interesting topic comes up. Write down answers. Look interested. Make eye contact. Actively respond to the person’s responses. Laugh, smile, react. Take the person seriously. Don’t laugh at them or criticize mis-statements, mispronunciations etc.

Don’t cut off or interrupt the person, but you can use subtle body language to indicate you have a new question. Be prepared to be shocked, but try not to show it.

Crafting quality questions Don’t ask about facts that can be easily researched. Be creative and quirky if the tone is light. Don’t ask yes or no questions. Craft open- ended questions. Always have follow-up questions prepared for every main question. It’s always better to have too many questions than not have enough. However, you should prioritize the important questions.

Do your research first. If you interview Mr. Golisano, research him online. This allows you to craft personal questions. We’ll hear this technique in the Melroy interview. Know your facts. If you want to discuss a particular issue, know all about it before you get to the interview.

If you want to discuss the Sabres with Mr. G., you better know their record from last year. What key players did they lose? How much has the team improved since he acquired it. Be able to spout facts and figures. Quote him back to himself… Or use a quote from the coach or another media figure to lead into a question.

For example… Let’s look at a Rolling Stone interview with Bono. We’ll start reading it together and you’ll finish it yourself.

Let’s Practice You’re going to get 5 minutes now to think up 5 questions, with two follow-up questions each, to interview the person next to you. Type or write out your questions. Be creative. If you know something about the person already, use that in your questions. After you have your questions prepare, you will interview each other for five minutes each.