So here are six important tips to keep in mind when doing any interview.
- Do plenty of preparation. Preparation means doing
background research before the interview, both about the interviewee and
the subject you will be discussing. Nothing inspires confidence in an
interviewee more than a reporter who is clearly well prepared for the
interview. On the other hand, walking into an interview cold, with
little or no preparation, can be a recipe for disaster, especially for a
young, inexperienced reporter. And it just makes sense that a reporter
who is knowledgeable about the subject to be discussed will do a better
interview.
- Prepare a list of questions. This goes along with
the prep work mentioned above. Once you’ve done your background
research, having a list of prepared questions ready will give you
confidence and help you conduct a more focused interview. Having such a
list can also save time for both you and the person you’re interviewing.
- But don’t be afraid to deviate from that list. What
do I mean? Let’s say the person you’re interviewing says something
really interesting and newsworthy about a topic you hadn’t thought of
beforehand, one that isn’t on your list of questions. Don’t be afraid to
go off-script and pursue that avenue of the conversation to see where
it leads. Experienced reporters will tell you that the best interviews
are those where your source says something really unexpected, and when
that happens you need to be ready to throw out your prepared questions
and improvise.
- Listen. This seems painfully obvious, but I can’t
tell you how many interviews I’ve watched where the interviewer was
clearly more interested in the sound of his or her own voice than in
hearing from the person being interviewed. Remember, the purpose of an
interview is to get information – to learn something – from the
interviewee. You can’t do that if you’re constantly talking over them or
just not listening to what they are saying.
- Establish a rapport with the interviewee. Many
people, especially those who are not regularly in the news, can get
very nervous at the prospect of being interviewed by a reporter. So the
best thing you can do is make them comfortable by approaching the
interview in a casual, friendly manner, and by making the interview
itself as much like a conversation as possible. For instance, before
starting the interview, make a point of chitchatting about some
unrelated topic, such as the weather or the state of the local sports
teams. This sets a casual tone for the interview, one that will make the
interviewee feel at ease and, hopefully, make them more forthcoming.
- After the interview, check and double-check.
Interviews can move very quickly, and if you are taking notes it can be
easy to miss or misconstrue things that are said. So once the interview
is wrapping up, don’t be afraid to go back and double check things that
the interviewee has said to make sure that you understood them clearly.
You worked hard to build a level of trust with your interviewee; you
don’t want to wreck that by misquoting them in your article. So double
check anything you’re not sure about.