Conduct a Successful Interview for Your Article

How to Get the Information You Want

Do your interviews feel like you're pulling teeth? Do you envy your fellow writer, who gleans information from subjects as if through some mystic telepathic connection? Interviewing skills consist of equal parts natural ability and learned technique. Here are a few tips to warm you up on the technique part.

1. Prepare yourself ahead of time. What information are you looking for? Who is the best person to give you that information? Don't go into the interview without a clear idea of your own purpose.

2. Prepare a list of the basic questions you want answered. This will serve as an outline for your interview, so you're not grasping for or forgetting key questions in the midst of the conversation.

3. Ask open-ended questions. To make sure your questions are worded in an open-ended manner, practice asking them out loud and determine if they can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." If so, you need to re-word them to elicit a more expansive response. 

4. Make sure each question is only asking one question. Avoid complicated questions that require your subject to think in more than one direction at once. Keep them simple, and keep them coming as your subject speaks.

5. If possible, call ahead and schedule a time for the interview. This will allow your subject time to prepare. "On-the-spot" interviews often take people off-guard, and the responses you receive will usually not be as thoughtful or valuable.

6. Tell your subject what you're writing about, what information you hope to gain from the interview, and why you're contacting this particular person. This will allow the interviewee a chance to prepare him/herself for your questions and plan how he/she will answer.

7. Make sure you're prepared to take accurate notes, whatever your method may be. If you'll be writing notes, make sure you have adequate paper and bring more than one pen - they have a tendency to run out of ink. If you'll be recording the interview, bring more than enough tapes and make sure your batteries are fresh.