The advantages of an interview are that your interviewee will automatically focus on the priorities and key messages and summarise them for you.
They are likely to explain complex terms in language that you, and therefore your readers, will easily understand.
If there’s something that you don’t understand you can ask them there and then and get a clear explanation.
In the course of the conversation your interviewee may touch on other subjects that are worth following-up as stories in their own right.
A telephone interview only takes 10 or 15 minutes. It will take you a lot longer to read through and summarise a lengthy report. It will take them a lot longer to write the article themselves.
Preparation:
Check out any background information that is available so that you know a bit about the subject.
Spend some time thinking about the story and the basic information that you’ll need to write it.
Prepare a few questions in your notebook that will prompt the interviewee to give you this information. This will also give you a structure to work from.
The interview:
Interviews can be nerve-wracking so put your interviewee at ease by chatting to them before you plunge straight into questioning. Enquire after their health, talk about the weather, the usual stuff – just as if you had met them by the coffee machine.
Before you start, give them a re-cap on the point of the story and the information that you are hoping to get from them. Don’t go in with a closed mind, though, as they will be on top of their subject and may have an important update or a completely new angle on the story.
If you know very little about the subject then don’t be afraid to tell them this at the beginning.
Ask them to explain things to you in the simplest terms, avoiding industry or technical jargon. Point out that the article that you are writing will be read by a general readership from across all sectors and backgrounds.
Start with your pre-prepared first question. (Try to phrase this and all questions in a way which discourages ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers but gets them to talk.) Your questions should be open-ended and relevant to what your audience wants to know.
For example, instead of ‘Do you agree with the regional management team’s decision to launch this accommodation standards strategy?’ try ‘What are the main benefits of the accommodation standards strategy launched by the regional management team?’.
A good interviewer listens carefully to the answers given and asks supplementary questions based on those answers. ( Although you should cover all your pre-prepared questions over the course of the discussion, go with the flow of the interview, don’t rigidly follow your question list. If your interviewee gives new and relevant information in the course of answering a particular question then follow it up. You can always return to your pre-prepared question list later.)
Don’t assume anything – even if you think you know the answer, ask the question anyway. All facts in the story should be based on the information gleaned from the interviewee, not your assumptions.
Don’t interrupt. If their answer veers off into an irrelevant area, wait until your interviewee has finished before getting back on topic with a new question.
If you don’t understand something, or miss something because you’re busy taking notes, don’t be afraid to ask the interviewee to go over it again. It’s essential that you understand everything so that you can get it right in the article.
At the end of the interview ask the interviewee if they have anything else that they wish to include.
It is essential to get the basics rights so check details such as the spelling of the interviewee’s name, places and technical terms. Also ask for their preferred job title and contact number (for inclusion in the article) and whether you can include an intranet address for readers to get further information.
Tell them when you are likely to send the draft article for their approval and when the finished piece is likely to appear in the newsletter.
Ask them if you can call them again if you find you have a gap in your notes or need further details. They’ll usually be happy to help.
© Writing for Internal Communications.
