Conducting an Interview

Before going all in, research and take note of the facts of the article you’re covering, as well as the background of the person you plan to interview. Dig deep and look for inspiration for your questions or the flow of your conversation. If you’re interviewing an athlete, it will be great to know which contests they won before. If they’re a teacher, find out what their students thought of them.

Questions to Answer

You are conducting an interview for a reason. That reason is to flesh out your article further by getting information you need. Think about five to ten questions you need answers to and write them down. Make sure that they’re open-ended and are not answered by “yes” and “no.” You want your interviewee to keep talking, in order for you to get the information you need for your article.

Furthermore, make sure that the questions are ordered in a way that makes sense for a clear flow of conversation. When you have finally finished your list, send it to your editor or moderator for review! They’ll check if the questions are appropriate, and edit when needed.

Also, don’t be afraid if you find better questions during the interview, or if the conversation goes a different way than you planned! As long as you get what you need for your article, you’re fine.

Review

Be at your appointment on time and prepared. Greet your interviewee and have some pleasant small talk to set the tone of your interview. Avoid interrupting your interviewee when they’re in the middle of talking.

Before the interview starts, tell your interviewee that you’ll be recording the interview so that they’ll know. Afterwards, you can hit record and start asking questions!

Be Attentive

Be attentive at all times, and give non-verbal listening cues, like nodding your head and looking at your interviewee in the eye when they’re talking. You can always make up new questions on the spot if you hear something that piques your interest. If ever something they said confused you, ask them to explain it for you.

Listen attentively and take notes in your notebook, even if you’re recording, in order to highlight certain details for later. The recording will help you make out specific quotations for direct citations when writing, or to double-check your notes. You may always find something new when you relisten to your interview. Also, it stops you from constantly taking notes during the interview.

Be Professional

Take a moment to listen to the interview again. Maybe there was something you missed in the time you were conducting it that you can spot later. Doing this also clarifies your notes.

Write!

Write up your article, implementing your notes into it. If need be, add direct quotations where you can. However, don't rely on quotations all too much and flood the article with direct quotations. Remember that you can paraphrase what your interviewee said and clarify what they mean in writing.

Following Up