Ten things you must do in an interview

Anyone who writes may also need to interview people to generate material. It can be intimidating at first, but it gets easier with practice.

And it’s something you should practice, because it’s a core skill for a writer.

So, here are my top ten tips for good interviewing (I’m sure you can add more. Please do so in the comments).

1. Prepare

Get some core questions down on paper in advance. This makes it easier to think on your feet . Even if you don’t use them much during the interview, they can be a useful thing to check off at the end to make sure you’ve covered all the important areas.

2. Make them comfortable

Put them at their ease. Explain who you are, why you want to interview them and what you will do with the results.

3. Get them talking.

Once you have them talking, don’t interrupt.

4. Listen

Let the interview flow from what the person tells you. Listen to what they’re saying and let that guide your next question. Don’t just go through your prepared list of questions.

5. Ask the six Ws

Use the six Ws as a guide to getting all the information: who, what, where, why, when – and how.

6. Be polite
Remember that aggressive, confrontational interviewing like they do on the TV only works if you are actually on live TV. It’s no good giving someone a grilling if no one sees or hears it.

7. Ask open questions

Sometimes it’s easy to interview someone, yet completely miss the the most interesting bit of information. This may not be deliberate. They may simply have answered your questions in a matter of fact manner. Open questions, both at the start and at the end, can help overcome this. Don’t be afraid to ask questions such as: “So, can you tell me all about it?” or “Is there anything else I should know?”

8. Get all the facts (even the dull ones)

Don’t forget the boring, mundane facts that are largely irrelevant but which you still need to make the article credible. If you’re writing for a newspaper, you’ll probably need to know the person’s age. If your subject is female, does she prefer to be ms, miss, or mrs?

9. Get quotes

If you’re writing an article or press release, you’re going to need some good quotes. Keep interviewing until you get the person to loosen up and say something quotable. (Otherwise, you have to resort to making up a quote … and that would be a bad thing, wouldn’t it? )

10. Make effective notes

You also need a plan for how you’re going to capture the interview. Will you record it, write it down, video it? Even if you’re recording it, it still pays to make notes. For one thing, it’s much faster to write up a story or article from your notes than having to listen back through a recording. So, for those of you who don’t have 300 words per minute shorthand, here are some thoughts on notetaking:

• Only write down what is important. This means you need to listen and think, not just write.
• When the interviewee says something that really grabs you, scribble it down, ask them to repeat it if at all possible – and put a big mark by it, or quote marks, so you can find it again easily.
• Don’t be afraid to go back over key facts at the end of the interview. Most people respect the fact that you are concerned about accuracy.
• Create your own shorthand on the fly, for example, acronyms and shortcuts providing you will know what they mean when you look back at your notes, perhaps days or even weeks later. For example, use L for London, or JB for Joe Bloggs.
• Go back over your notes as soon as possible, within minutes if you can, filling in the gaps, writing out in full where your ‘shorthand’ has become illegible etc.
• Get their phone number or email address so you can check facts with them at a later date. (I know this is obvious. But it’s also so easy to forget).

Those are my top tips for now. What works for you?

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2. How to have ideas
3. The number one reason you find it difficult to write
4. Seeing through the fog – write how you talk, part 3

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