Interview Skills: Preparing to Conduct an Interview

Posted by Lima Al-Azzeh Oct 16, 2009

As a broadcast editor and script writer for WBZ Newsradio1030 AM, a CBS affiliate in Boston, and an experienced web writer, Mia Carter has perfected the art of the interview. Read on for more tips on how to prepare to conduct an interview.

For the inexperienced writer or journalist, conducting an interview can be an intimidating experience. This may prevent some web writers from conducting interviews, which is unfortunate as interviews could lead to vast improvements in an article's authority.

This week's post focuses on how to prepare for an interview by researching, by collecting the proper materials for the interview, and by developing your shorthand skills.

Pre-Interview Research and Preparation

When preparing for an interview, do your homework on the topic and learn as much as possible about the person whom you will be interviewing. In an effort to appear professional, writers who are new to conducting interviews may feel pressure to “wing it” and simply learn about the individual and interview topic as the discussion proceeds, which is often the case in a newsroom setting. However, this is not a skill that new writers need to have right off the bat, so take the time to properly prepare for your interviews when you’re just starting out.

When you're conducting your research on the topic of the interview, write down points that you'd like to discuss with the interviewee. I find that writing down precise questions can actually be quite detrimental because I often find that the interview doesn’t always go as planned. In a good interview the interviewee may feel inspired to elaborate on a different issue, changing the focus of your original interview plan. I often found myself adapting my questions quickly based on the information that my interviewee was giving me. Having a list with a wide range of topics to discuss helped me to come up with relevant questions to ask no matter what direction the interview took.

Interview Materials

When conducting an interview, I strongly encourage writers to use a reporter's notebook or steno pad. The problem with using full size notebooks is that once you reach the end of the line, your hand must travel a long distance to the start of the next line. The narrow width of reporter's notebooks and steno pads allows for quicker note taking.

You'll also want several pens. This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many novice interviewers forget to bring backup materials and wind up completely stuck. If you bring just one pen, that virtually guarantees it will run out of ink or stop working for no apparent reason during the juiciest portion of the interview! Avoid situations like this at all costs.

You may wish to bring along a tape recorder. But inexperienced interviewers beware: Do not use the tape recorder as your primary method of recording the information! Tape recorders allow the mind to wander, and you may become a bit inattentive knowing that the conversation is being recorded on tape. This can lead to a disaster if the recording is lost.

Only use tape recorders as a backup tool and use your hand written notes as the primary method for recording your interview. When you use a tape recorder as a backup, the time consuming transcription process is not usually necessary, since you can use your notes as a guide to what topics were discussed at which point in the interview. Ideally, tape recorders should only be used to verify quotes if there is a discrepancy in your notes.

Developing Shorthand

An experienced reporter or journalist can write as fast as the interviewee speaks. But they're not writing down each and every word in its entirety; experienced journalists develop a note-taking shorthand. Each person's shorthand will be unique; it's a matter of developing abbreviations that make sense to you.

To give you an idea of how this is done, I'll share a few of my shorthand terms:

• "comty" – community

• "comm" – committee

• "rlvt" – relevant

• "i2" – into

• "b/c" – because

• "w/o" – without

• "ibv" – I believe

• circled "y" – yes

• circled "n" – no

• "thr" – their

• "tk" – think or thank (the context reveals the term)

If you are interviewing more than one person, use different degrees of indentation to indicate different speakers.

The popularity of texting and tweeting makes developing unique shorthand fairly easy for many individuals; it's just a matter of coming up with terms that you'll remember!

You can practice your note-taking skills by watching an unfamiliar DVD or listening to a program recorded on your DVR. Start out by taking notes on a 30-second conversation and check your accuracy with a play back. You should also pick up your notes a few days later to determine how well you can read back the conversation, this will help you identify problematic abbreviations that just aren't working for you. You need to decipher your notes with perfect accuracy days, weeks, months or years after the interview has taken place.

These preparations for conducting an interview are sure to help you get all of the information you need and more! Next week, I'll discuss additional tips for conducting the actual interview and how to use all the information you've gathered.