Interviewing Basics

Some Interview Tips

1.    Think ahead: What information do you think you’ll want in your article?

2.  Ask more questions than you think you’ll need. You’ll never know if/when the extra information will come in handy.

3.  If your interviewee strays, let him or her go. It may be interesting. You can get back on track later.

4.  Don’t be afraid to ask him or her to repeat something… especially because you are not taping the interview.

5.  Try and break up your questions so that you can get shorter, more concise answers for print.

6.  Your last question should be something like this: Is there something important that I have not asked you about? Is there anything else you’d like to add?

7.  Some people are just bad interviewees. It’s not your fault.

8.  Dress appropriately. Who knows when you’ll see this person again.

9.  At the end, thank the person for the interview.

10.               Review your notes right after the interview. If you have any questions or can’t understand something that you may think is important, now is the time to clear that up.