Although you will tailor your strategy to both the interviewee and the publication, most interviewing tips apply whether your subject is the local grocer, the CEO of Exxon, or the bass player for Nine Inch Nails.
A feature interview is simply a conversation with an agenda, and its success requires the same elements that energize any memorable discussion:
Settle details up front
Interviews often spring surprises, but whether they are pleasant or disastrous usually depends on your preparation. A writer once showed up to interview Ray Charles for a cover story in Keyboard, only to find himself in a dishearteningly long line of fellow scribes, each of whom was given a scant 15 minutes with the legendary singer. This miscommunication wasted a quarter-hour of Ray Charles’ time and hours of preparation by the writer. The story never ran.
When making the appointment, agree upon or specify:
– 1. Your capacity: Are you a full-time staffer on assignment? A freelancer?
– 2. Intended format & focus: Is this to be a front-section blurb? Cover story? To be published as a Q&A feature, or background quotes? Do you want the banker’s opinion of the new tax bill for an article on taxes, or his or her life story for a profile? As freelancer Sally-Jo Bowman says, "Unless the writer can articulate the project for himself in a sentence or two, he won’t be able to put it across to the interviewee."
– 3. Time and place: Be accommodating, but also say you "hope we can get together in a quiet spot without distractions." Although fine interviews have been conducted under combat conditions, try to avoid noisy restaurants, parties, etc.
– 4. Time length: If you need two hours, ask for it now, not when you ring the doorbell. (If you need an hour and a half, ask for "90 minutes" – it doesn’t sound like such a massive commitment.)
The implied "contract"
The relationship between you and your interviewee is determined in part by his or her position: government official, state employee, private individual, etc. Part of a government employee’s responsibility is to communicate to the public – or at least not to hide info – while a private individual has less obligation to communicate, more freedom to clam up.
Gray area: private individuals with particular responsibilities to society – the head of a large insurance company, president of a medical foundation, e.g.
Guide: the more public the person, the fewer conditions he or she can reasonably place on an interview. These distinctions affect what’s expected on both sides.
Tools of the trade
Other professionals prefer to take notes, but I suggest you tape record the interview. Why fool around with pens and pads? It’s slow and captures fewer details, you have to take your eyes away from the subject, it can hamper your listening (which is the key to effective interviewing), and any respondent who’s uncomfortable with a recorder probably won’t feel any better if you’re scribbling like a demon.
In case of a dispute over the exact wording of an interviewee’s quote, a tape recording can prove to be invaluable evidence; I recommend keeping the tapes until the story is off the stands, even longer if legal complications seem likely.
Get a road-worthy machine, perhaps a stereo model with independent left and right microphones.
Number and label your tapes beforehand – ONE, SIDE A – so you don’t lose track of them an hour into your interview. One of journalism’s most nauseating sweats is trying to act like you’re fascinated with the conversation when what you’re really thinking about is whether you may now be recording over an earlier part of the interview.
Use fresh batteries, and take extras. Take more cassettes than you think you need. If the interviewee invites you out to dinner to carry on the conversation, you’ll be ready. (If the stakes are high – let’s say it’s a cover story with a celebrity who’s impossible to pin down – you might even borrow a backup recorder. You probably won’t need it, but just having it may calm your nerves.)
Throw a notebook and some pens in your briefcase, too, in case of equipment malfunction or in case the interviewee balks at being recorded.
A note on phoners: While they often lack the intimacy of memorable Q&A’s, telephone interviews are essential reportorial tools and may be necessary because of deadlines and tight travel budgets.
One tip: It’s easy to inadvertently interrupt someone you can’t see, so be sure to allow your respondent time to answer. Double-check anything you might not have heard correctly.
Prepare to the max
Make sure you understand what the editor wants and why the interviewee is worthy of coverage. The editor will want to have confidence in your ability to set up, conduct, and write the interview on your own; in special circumstances, though, extended discussion may be warranted prior to the interview. To prepare for the interview itself:
1. Read as much as possible about your interviewees – previous Q&A’s, bios or press releases from their companies, position papers if they’re politicians, their own articles if they’re writers, anything you can find.
2. If possible, interview other writers who have covered your subject; it may be appropriate to talk to an interviewee’s acquaintances, family members, colleagues, or rivals, if you can do so without appearing too nosy or secretive.
3. Type out a comprehensive list of questions that reflects your plan for the interview’s structure, flow, and focus. Group questions in a way that you think will be most effective: general to specific, etc. Highlight top-priority topics.
Here you go
Show up on time. Be polite to secretaries, assistants, or other gatekeepers. They can prove to be invaluable.
When you sit down with your subject, set aside your carefully prepared list of questions and forget about it. You didn’t prepare it to read from top to bottom anyway; you prepared it as a security blanket. Look at it later.
Breaking the ice is important, but "How about those Ducks?" openers sound artificial. Instead, mention a topic that you think the interviewee wants to discuss. The idea is not to trick the subject into exploring topics you have no intention of keeping, but simply to engage him or her at the outset.
Take five seconds to test the recorder. Then, aim it at the respondent; capturing his or her comments is more important than capturing yours. Make sure you can see the little capstan spinning around inside. (Try this ahead of time. If you can’t see it, dab some white-out on the tip of the post.)
If you admire your interviewee, fine, but don’t swoon.
Listen and respond!
Respondent: Remember that Paula Jones scandal? Well, I’ve never told anyone, but I cooked it all up. The whole deal was my idea, actually, every detail. I’ve still got all the documents right here in my desk. Videotapes, too.
Interviewer: Uh, what’s your favorite recipe?
`The most common mistake made by beginners? Not listening! Why not? They’re too worried about formulating their next question. This is why you worked so hard on your questions list. It sits comfortably by your side, as reassuring as a teddy bear. Now that you’re not worried about sounding like an idiot who’s run out of questions, you can relax (at least a little), listen, and respond.
If there were nothing more to a good interview than a list of questions with the answers filled in, there would be no need for you and your respondents to get together at all – they could just mail their answers. By listening, you can respond, and before you know it you have a real conversation on tape, not just a boring litany of stock questions and canned answers.
Your success will be measured not by the number of questions you can cram into the allotted time but by the significance of the responses you elicit.
As Ken Metzler points out in his excellent Creative Interviewing, some interviewers come away with much more info than others – but not by clever questioning. "Quite the opposite. They get more information by asking fewer questions and listening more intensely" (emphasis added).
The most revealing answers often come not from the questions on your list but from their follow-ups.
Use your subject’s answers as jumping-off points for new questions. Then you can dig beneath the surface.
After asking a question, let the person answer. Don’t be afraid to let a few seconds of silence slip by. Inexperienced interviewers often interrupt their subjects with the kind of nervous chattiness usually found on blind dates. Resist the temptation to talk too much; if you want to speechify, wait until someone interviews you.
Maintain eye contact.
Get the goods
Avoid pushiness, but don’t be afraid to prod and probe. Don’t worry about asking a stupid question. With all the homework you did, chances are you won’t embarrass yourself, and it’s certain that if you don’t ask, they won’t answer. So ask!
But avoid obvious questions. You’ll bore your editor and your reader. You’ll bore – or even insult – your interviewee, too. If the person’s been interviewed many times, don’t plow the same old turf. Pick up where the other interviewers left off.
Don’t waste precious time gathering information you can find elsewhere; maximize your time to get the things you need expressed in the subject’s own words. The goal of the interview is not to get as much material as possible; it’s to get as much good material as possible.
The "devil’s advocate" approach – I call it the "yes, but" technique – often works well:
"When I’m elected mayor, we’ll double the size of Central Park."
"Yes, but where will the money come from?"
"President Clinton has demonstrated to Reagan Democrats that he’s not in Jesse Jackson’s pocket."
"Yes, but hasn’t he risked alienating black voters?"
If you’re nervous, don’t let it derail the conversation, even if things seem to be sliding toward catastrophe. It’s possible to drop your cassette recorder on the interviewee’s foot and still come back with the goods. The best way to get around the inherent artificiality of the situation? Be yourself, keep your cool, do your job.
Ask the respondent to further explain an unclear comment. If you don’t understand it now, it won’t be any clearer when you listen to the tape. You don’t have to act like you know it all, so ask again and get it straight while you have the chance.
It’s perfectly all right to ask about the spelling of a proper name – if it may be hard to track down in handy references (if you know where to look it up, don’t waste time with it now). The interviewee will likely appreciate your commitment to accuracy.
Keep an eye on the recorder. If you keep talking as you pop in a new cassette, you’ll maintain your momentum. Crashing to a halt for a ritual changing of the tapes only underscores the artificiality of the circumstances.
Be flexible
If the interviewee throws you a curve, take it in stride. Just because you didn’t anticipate a comment doesn’t mean you can’t handle it the same way you would in any other conversation: Take a step back, and try again.
Be ready, be flexible: The interviewee may not be what you expected. The politician whose speech you despised may turn out to be personable. The "bimbo" you perceived on TV may turn out to be shrewder than you are.
Your list of questions should be a tool, not a straightjacket. Painstaking homework will almost always provide relevant questions to ask, but if for some reason it does not, wing it.
Improvisation under fire can be stressful, but it’s far more fruitful than doggedly sticking to transparently irrelevant questions.
You may feel the interview moving far afield of your plan. The trick here is to decide whether to steer it back on track, or wait and see what’s around the bend. You may have an assignment, but you don’t want to be so rigid that you miss opportunities. Ask yourself whether the unexpected revelations are more significant than the conversation you had anticipated, and if your editor will likely value the new matter. If so, go with it. See what happens.
Of course, you should never intentionally irritate your interviewee. It’s bad technique, and why burn a bridge? But ask the tough questions, the bombs, if appropriate. If you have potentially touchy questions, save them for the end. If your subject clams up, you’ve already got most of what you came for. (Don’t wait too long – it’s unproductive and unfair to the interviewee to lob some bomb just as you’re finishing up. Give him or her time to respond thoughtfully.)
Wrapping it up
Check your watch once in a while (inconspicuously). If you’re halfway through your slated time, take a gander at your questions list. You’ll likely find that many items have been covered, but since you’ve been listening and responding, the conversation has evolved in a more organic and more readable fashion than if you had simply recited the list. If you’ve missed any of the top priorities you highlighted, now’s the time.
Interviewees often have agendas of their own, so ask, "Is there anything you’d like to explore further?" If it’s sparkling stuff, you’ve scored a bonus. If it’s drivel, you can deep-six it later. Remember that some of your interviewee’s best quotes may come as you’re on your way out the door.
If all goes well, and it usually does, the interviewee will be receptive to your request for a follow-up: "Thanks so much for all your time. It’s been a terrific interview, but if I get back and find out that I missed a question, can we get on the phone for five minutes just to follow up?" Note how the underlined words suggest a small favor – not another major interview. Get this commitment before you leave. If the interviewee is hard to pin down, find out how to reach him or her before your deadline. Get an itinerary, the appointment secretary’s phone number, whatever you need.
After you get home, tape-record your impressions while they’re fresh, and note any quotes made before or after the tape recorder was turned on. Depending on the scope of your assignment, you may need to transcribe only a portion of the conversation. In any case, when transcribing, listen critically. Assess your interviewing technique and look for needed improvements.
"Send it to me prior to publication"
Your subject may ask to see the manuscript prior to press, which should set your PDI (Potential Disaster Indicator) ringing loudly. Another one of journalism’s most nauseating sweats is getting a call from an interviewee who "just wanted to skim it for accuracy" and is now attempting to rewrite every sentence.
You and your interviewees may have very different agendas, and the last thing you want to do is to let them write their own articles. On the other hand, they may simply want to double-check your facts, particularly if they don’t know you, or have been burned by the press before.
If you think it’s necessary, speak to your editor about the publication’s policy. At many newspapers and some magazines, for example, an interview would not be sent to an interviewee prior to publication under any circumstances. In any case, make no promises on behalf of your employer unless expressly authorized.
At the last resort, and only if the editor agrees that
(1) it’s an important story,
(2) you’re not going to get it any other way, and
(3) sending it does not violate policy,
your editor may instruct you to offer to send the manuscript to the interviewee. These are dangerous waters, and the offer should be made only under certain specified conditions, which we’ll explore in class.
Good luck, and remember, if you finally score that audience with the Pope and you’re feeling nervous, keep saying to yourself: listen and respond, listen and respond.