How to Interview with Confidence

by Kathryn Tyler

For me, conducting interviews used to be the hardest part of writing articles. It is still my least favorite part, but I’ve done it often enough now they no longer scare me. I used to shake as I dialed a potential source’s phone number and stammer as I told him my reason for calling. But I wanted to write nonfiction articles, and to do that I had to have quotations from experts, so I persevered. I overcame my fears through sheer repetition and learning from my mistakes. In the last year, I’ve done about sixty interviews and have developed a system that makes interviewing easier.

Preparing the Questions
It’s important to formulate questions before you start calling potential sources. If someone says, “Fire away,” you want to be able to shoot off your questions. If you haven’t written them yet, you’ll sound foolish. Preparing the questions in advance also gives you insight into what you want to know, so you can determine who you should be calling. Once I finish preliminary periodical research, I make several lists.

The first is: If I Were A Reader Of This Magazine, What Would I Want To Know? Then I write down all of the questions that come to mind. The second list is: Who Should I Interview? When I say “who,” I don’t mean specific names. At this point I’m just looking for “roles.” For instance, if I’m working on an article about language training, I would want to have an interview with the owner of a language school, an instructor, a student, and maybe the director of a government agency or nonprofit watchdog group regarding language training school standards. I like to get a well-rounded view of the topic. I may not be able to get all of those interviews before the deadline - I may secure three interviews with language school owners and none with students - but that’s my goal.

I also decide how many interviews I want to do, depending on the length of the article. For example, for a 2,000-word article, I usually like to have seven to ten interviews. For a 300-word article, I would do one, maybe two.

The third list is, “Interview Questions For (insert role here).” For example, “Interview Questions For Language Training School Owners.” I make interview question lists for all of my potential sources. I usually have a dozen questions. Less is all right, but I don’t want to have more because otherwise the interview will take too long. Unless you’re doing a profile, an interview should take between twenty and forty-five minutes.

Contacting the Source
The first time I contact a source, I like to call during lunch, before work in that time zone, or late on a Friday afternoon. I want to get the person’s voicemail or a secretary. Why? I want to give the potential source some advance warning so she isn’t caught off-guard by my request and turn me down. This gives the interviewee a chance to decide if she wants to be interviewed.

The first time I call, I give almost the same speech. “Hi, my name is Kathryn Tyler, K-A-T-H-R-Y-N T-Y-L-E-R, and I’m at (555) 555-1234 in the Eastern Time zone. I’m a freelance writer on assignment from XYZ magazine and I’m doing a story on language training programs. I got your name from Margaret Snead at Languages R US. She thought you might be a good person for me to talk to. My deadline is June 20th, so if you’re interested, I’d like to set up an interview for next week.”

I always state my name and telephone number first because people often replay the message several times to take notes, and that way the person doesn’t have to listen to the whole thirty-second spiel to get my number. Also, I try to speak slowly.

I always tell the source the name of the magazine I’m working for and, sometimes, a few other facts. For instance, if I were writing a story for HRMagazine, I would explain HRM stands for Human Resources Management and it’s a national magazine distributed by the Society for Human Resources Management. If I didn’t have an assignment, I would say, “I am a freelance writer doing preliminary research for an article I hope to write for XYZ magazine.” However, I usually get an assignment before I conduct too many interviews, to keep my hourly wage high. Then I describe the subject and scope of the story. In the previous example, I would say I’m writing a story on language training programs: why they’re important in the new global economy, what to look for in a school, what to look for in an instructor, and what to expect from courses.

Next I explain how I got the individual’s name. Finally, I tell the source my deadline, so he returns my call promptly. I tell sources the deadline is five days before my actual deadline. Why? It’s like the trick you use with late people, telling them to meet you fifteen minutes before you really plan to be there so they will be on time. I need to give myself a cushion for writing and editing. If necessary, I can always say my editor gave me an extension.

Keep records of who you called and when, so you know who hasn’t returned your call and when to follow-up. I give a source two or three days to reply before calling again. If the individual still doesn’t respond, I move on to more responsive sources.

Once you arrange an interview, consider faxing or emailing the questions to your interviewee beforehand to give her time to collect her thoughts and any statistical information you may need. Most interviews are not exposés, and the element of surprise works against you. The majority of the time you’ll get better quotations from a person who has had time to prepare than one who hasn’t.

Preparing for the Interview
Typically, I arrange to telephone a source, but on occasion, a source has called me at an appointed time. Regardless, you want to be prompt and prepared. Minimize distractions: close all of the windows, turn off call waiting, put the dog in its crate, etc. Have your questions on paper in front of you.

I usually type into the computer as I am talking to a source, but this takes some skill and practice. It’s difficult to type verbatim, so you’ll need to develop a shorthand. Aim to get the nouns and verbs accurately; fill in the pronouns and articles later. If you do a lot of interviews, you may want to invest in headphones so that you won’t get a permanent crick in your neck.

If you aren’t a fast typist, you can use a tape recorder that hooks into your telephone handset (available at Radio Shack for about $80) or some answering machines have a recording feature. I used a recorder when I broke my arm and had to hunt-and-peck every word of an article with my non-dominant hand. I could barely type the article, let alone dictation. The recorder worked out fine, but when my arm healed I returned to typing. Why? It was cumbersome to transcribe the tape word-for-word and it made some of my interviewees nervous.

Conducting the Interview
The first thing I do, after I recap the purpose of the article, is to get the source to spell her name and give me her title. I may also ask her to tell me a little bit about what her company does. Then I ask an easy question to warm up the subject. I always try to ask questions that require more than a yes-or-no answer. Phrase questions that begin with “what,” “why,” or “how.”

Gordon Burgett, author of Sell and Resell Your Magazine Articles, taught me to ask my most critical question early on to ensure you get it answered before you run out of time. Also, avoid talking too much. Ask a question, give a thirty-second explanation when necessary, and then shut up. If a source doesn’t answer right away, count to ten in your head. Don’t feel you need to fill the silence. A source may need to think about a question for a few moments before answering.

Near the end of the interview, I ask who else I could interview and what didn’t I ask about this topic that the subject would like to comment on. These two questions yield some of my best material. Asking for other sources drastically reduces your research time and helps you reach the best people to talk to. Many times the interviewee not only knows the big “players” in a field—the people you need to interview to have a thorough, balanced narrative—he will also have their telephone numbers handy.

Often times the things sources say at the end of interviews, when they think you’re “done asking questions,” are the most interesting and useful. At the very least, the answers can lead to additional related topics you can use for a sidebar or future articles.

Wrapping It Up
At the end of the interview, I request the interviewee’s address so I can send him a copy when the article comes out. If the interview was arranged by the public relations department, I also ask for a direct telephone number, so that I can add it to my fact-checking source sheet (a list of sources that you give to your editor so she can double-check your accuracy). You may also want to ask if it’s OK to call back if you have any other questions.

Some interviewees will request to see your article before you submit it. They have either been misquoted before or have heard media horror stories and fear being slandered. If a source asks, I say, “I can’t send you a copy of the whole article because my editor probably wouldn’t like it released prior to publication. But, if you want I can fax or email the quotes from your interview I intend to use.”

I never offer to do this, but I don’t refuse if I’m asked. Why? I think it’s important for a source to feel comfortable about what she said to me and I don’t want any angry sources calling after the piece is printed. However, faxing or emailing quotes before I submit an article that is usually on a short turnaround time, causes me a lot of extra work because I need to schedule enough time for the source to read what I’ve written and reply. Invariably, sources want to make changes. Therefore, my motto is, “Don’t offer, don’t refuse.”

One of the most important parts of the interview comes long after you hang up the telephone: sending a thank-you note. I usually wait until the article is published, and then I send a thank-you letter with a photocopy of the article and information on how the source can obtain an original. If a source was the subject of a feature article, you may want to send a copy of the whole magazine in which the article appears. Being courteous ensures the source will be receptive to you the next time you want an interview, and it improves the reputation of freelancers in general.