A good interview seems simple and easy to read. But behind this “airiness” is a complex flow, in which every detail plays a big role. And without good preparation, the whole process can fail.

There are many difficulties of preparation. For example, it is not always clear what form the interview should take. And it’s not clear what to ask someone who’s already done dozens of interviews – or someone who hasn’t done any.

We will tell you how to collect information about the hero, what the questions should be and what to do if the speaker is silent.

Why interview?

Interviews are probably the most popular genre and the basis of journalistic work. Almost any material requires an interview. If it is not published as a conversation, it becomes the basis for a profile or a guide, a factual basis for a reportage or an investigation. That is why the ability to conduct interviews is almost the main hard-skill of any journalist.

Text interviews are the most common (and this guide focuses on them as well). But the final material does not always come out as text – there can be an audio or video format. The conversation itself is almost the same – the differences are mainly in post-production. If you conduct an interview on camera or with an audio recording, check the requirements of the cameraman and the sound designer: they will tell you how best to turn to the camera and how to behave during the conversation.

The trajectory of the interview

A conversation with a character usually takes 20-40-60 minutes – of course, everything depends on the context and conditions, but most often it does. But in order for this dialogue to happen and be productive, you need to prepare properly. Go to these points:

Step 1. Define your purpose.

It’s important to understand what you want to say in the interview. Of course, audiences come for different things: some want to know more about their idol, some just want to get to know that person, some have an in-depth understanding of a topic, and some want to resolve their doubts about a burning issue.

The demands of the audience influence the goals of the interview. More often than not, they are as follows:

• To paint a portrait of the character. This portrait can be generalized if the speaker is not very famous and the audience gets to know him or her for the first time, or deep and specific if he or she appears frequently in the public field and gives many interviews.
• Cover an expert topic. If the emphasis is on this, the interview should be with an expert – the topic and the experience of the speaker will be more important than his or her personality.
• Talk about the project. In this case, you and the person discuss a specific occasion: a book, a movie, a hero’s charity project.

Depending on the purpose, the format is chosen. There are not many of them:

• Question-Answer. Choose it if the questions are concrete and cannot be painlessly removed from the text or if the journalist’s position in the conversation is also important. For example, you and the hero are having a discussion and you are also expressing your point of view.

• Collective interview. Same as question and answer, but there are several speakers and they answer the same questions. Choose it if you are interviewing several people at the same time and/or they are discussing the topic with each other in the process.
• Monologue. Questions are cut out, the speaker’s speech is stitched together as a solid text. This format is suitable for creative biographies and expert texts if the topic is broad enough and the journalist asks general questions.
• Profile. We write about the hero in the third person, interspersed with direct speech. What matters here is the skill of constructing a plot and the ability to turn a lengthy story into a coherent and catchy one.

Step 2: Learn all about the hero and the theme.

You can never have too much information. If we are talking about an expert topic, of course, it is better if the journalist also knows about it. Usually there is a tacit specialization in editorial offices: for example, one writes about graphic design and illustration, another – about advertising, another – about technology.

But there are topics or emphases that the journalist has not (yet) dived into. If the direction is new to you, you need to:

• Understand the topic as a whole. Understand the key terms, identify the leading experts and important processes.
• Scour the agenda. Find out what has been happening in the field lately. If it is a particular news item, study its history, different positions and theories.
• Understand what has been written and written about it. To understand which sides of the topic have been covered, and which sides have been left in the shadows. This is necessary to avoid repetition and to make the conversation unique.

If you’re talking about a person, you have to prepare along the same lines. Read and watch as many interviews of your hero as you can, scroll through social networks, and don’t stop at the first page of a Google search: information from years ago can show a different side of the person.

What to look for when gathering information:

• Biography – it’s best to write it down in abstract, especially if you don’t know the character well.
• Frequent topics – what the character is talked about most often. Look for what you can pull out that hasn’t been asked yet, if there are uncovered topics (something interesting that has been mentioned in passing).

-. How the character communicates – this will help you build a communication strategy: choose a more formal or informal style, avoid questions that could ruin everything – or, on the contrary, go for a conscious provocation.

Sometimes the hero is non-public, and there is no freely available information about him. And you he will tell a private story that no one else really knows about. In that case, set the scene well: what of the hero’s life is particularly important to you, what the plot can be and what you need to lead the reader to. And you can also ask the speaker a couple of questions before the interview, so that you understand who you are going to communicate with.

Step 3: Make a list of questions

The questions depend on the purpose of the interview-it’s important to structure them so that they really explore the topic and lead to where you want them to go. Organize them in a logical sequence – so that the conversation flows smoothly from one question to another. It is not necessary to follow this order during the conversation, but a cheat sheet will not be superfluous.

If you’re planning a question-and-answer format, write the questions more clearly and sequentially – this will be less of a problem when editing. Formulate open-ended questions – with “how?”, “who?”, “when?”, “why?”, so that the conversation doesn’t drown out, but fires up. And if you ask closed questions (with a “yes” or “no” answer), add “why?” right away.

If you run out of questions on the topic, ask more:

• About the infomercial – that’s a handy way to start a conversation
• About what the audience cares about – think about what readers might be discussing in the comments to this interview, and ask the hero about it
• About things that haven’t been asked yet – to reveal a new side of the hero (but within the limits of logic and ethics)
• About something that interests you personally – perhaps you have your own opinion on the subject, which you can pack into a question

It doesn’t all have to be on the list: most importantly, focus on the purpose of the interview. Send the speaker questions if you’ve agreed to agree on them before the conversation.

Step 4: Conduct the conversation.

So you know everything about your hero: how the man talks, what his background is, what to ask him about. Now all that’s left to do is talk – and get the material to work.

There’s a point that can derail everything: if the conversation doesn’t get recorded, the material will be at risk – you’ll have to explain a lot, apologize, over-explain, (possibly) write from memory, or give up on the material. So check the charge level on your phone or recorder, position it close to the hero – and warn them that you’ll be recording.

If the speaker rarely gives interviews and is afraid of recording, explain: “It is necessary to convey the speech accurately. It won’t go into the public domain. After publication do not delete the recording: if there are any complaints that the words were not accurately transmitted, you can check and prove that the quotation is correct.

If you interview remotely, talk the speaker into a video link, call, or voice message. Dodge the written interview format – more often than not, it feels plastic. Written responses only work for short comments and official agency responses.

A well-conducted conversation is 80% of a quality text. Attention, interest and the ability to gain the hero’s trust are important. Therefore:

• Let the hero relax – start with a small talk before asking the questions on the list.
• Start with general questions and only then go on to clarify details.
• Clarify numbers, names and organizations right away-it will be harder, if not impossible, to do later.
• Cling to words and redirect the hero to his own phrases. Paraphrase if a good point is not clearly articulated: “Am I correct in assuming that…?”
• Watch the time, especially when it’s limited. When it’s not, watch it too: the hero can get tired if the conversation gets blurry.
• Be polite and respect the hero’s personal boundaries-so you’ll be told more.
• Clarify what should be left off record. It’s not just being polite: the hero has the right to leave some of his words off the record. Only this he must warn you about. If he forgets and you publish everything, you and the media may have problems.
• End on a positive note – this may not be the first story you do together, and a good relationship will come in handy.

The reality is that an interview is an unpredictable thing; anything can go wrong. Be prepared for the fact that some questions may be irrelevant to the character or to the course of the actual conversation – so don’t be afraid to improvise.

After the interview

When the conversation is over, work on the final piece begins. If it’s a text, it goes like this:

• Transcription – allow four hours for one hour of the interview.
• Assembling the text – choose the main thing and brush up on what’s distracting and irrelevant, pick up references-ruffles, reread the text and write a headline (or pick the best short quotes from the text).
• Edit – give the text to an editor and make edits after the editorial proofreading.
• Approval – show the text to the speaker, if you agreed to coordinate it before publication, to approve the fact.

When the material comes out in audio or video format, the work may be structured differently: for example, if subtitles are needed, the transcript is done – but after editing. As a rule, the journalist does not edit the interview himself and is less involved in production (although it depends on the composition of the team).

But that’s another story. And it will definitely go quickly and easily if the conversation was successful.

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Questions or topics?

Is it necessary to prepare a detailed list of questions for an interview in advance? Reputable journalists, who have learned a lot about interviews, say no. It is better to think out only the themes for discussion, and the questions are born in the course of the dialogue.

However, if you still lack experience in conducting interviews, or if you think that with prepared questions will be more comfortable to build a conversation, still make a list. It may also be easier for the speaker to prepare for the interview if he or she has the list in advance. Don’t make a drama out of it – if the interviewer is familiar with the questions before the interview, it doesn’t mean that the interview will end up flat and formulaic, with pre-prepared phrases. First, you can send not the entire list, but only the questions that the speaker needs in order to “raise” some information – for example, data about the company’s financial performance. Second, it’s impossible to know in advance what direction the conversation will eventually take, so you’re bound to have new questions in the course of the interview.

By the way, even the most thorough preparation of both parties does not mean that everyone will stick to “homemade”. The element of surprise has never been canceled, so things can go off-script. Breaking the pattern is not always a bad thing.

A striking example of this is the interview with the BBC radio host Chris Stark and Mila Kunis. The young journalist was very nervous because he had to communicate with the star, which he told her. “It’s not the same as chatting with friends in the pub that I’m used to,” Stark admitted. The journalist and actress then begin discussing cocktails, food, and soccer, and eventually Stark even asks her out on a date.

When Stark’s colleagues asked the star still talk about the initially planned topic – the movie “Oz: The Great and Powerful”, in which Kunis played a witch, she replied that she likes informal communication more. And at the end of the conversation, the actress admitted that it was one of the best interviews of her life.

YouTube video with the recording of this interview by now has collected 14 million views and more than 11 thousand comments, many Western publications wrote about it. And Chris Stark himself later made such an informal approach his thing.

Avoid platitudes

Before you start preparing questions for the interview, monitor the topics that were most often discussed with the hero by other journalists, and exclude them. No one wants to talk about the same thing a hundred times.

Most often stars complain about monotony. For example, Bruce Willis has repeatedly stated that he hates giving interviews, including because journalists ask the same questions. And Quentin Tarantino once got terribly angry when a journalist from the British Channel Four News Krishnan Guru-Murphy asked about the connection between violence in his films and violence in life. Tarantino said that he had been answering such questions since the beginning of his career and was not going to voice his opinion again. As a result, the interview turned into an aggressive verbal altercation.

Of course, such stories become high-profile, they are discussed a lot, videos are watched and commented on. And yet, it is unlikely that anyone would want to voluntarily be in the interviewer’s shoes at that very moment. So look for a fresh perspective on the topic, in general, make the questions interesting for the interlocutor. Try to think of the structure of your interview as a diagram: from soft questions to hard ones.

You also don’t need to ask the interlocutor obvious things. For example, where or what he works on, what his hobbies and family are, etc. Finding such information is part of the preparation for the interview. It is necessary to try to find out everything about the hero’s biography from open sources as much as possible. And only the things that the hero has never talked about you can specify.

Prepare some “just in case” questions

What to do if your interlocutor is verbose, gives short and one-word answers? Formulate in advance a few additional questions for the interview “just in case”. They will save the conversation and possibly help you get the character to talk. For example, ask the interviewee’s opinion about a recently released film or book.

Use useful tools

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when preparing interview questions, but you can use what others have already invented before you. For example, the rules of Canadian journalist and scholar John Sawatsky. Over many years, Sawatsky, together with his students, studied various interviews and analyzed them. As a result, he formulated three rules for good questions and made a list of the interviewer’s “Seven Deadly Sins.”

The three rules of good questions are

1. open-ended
2. Neutral
3. Short and uncomplicated to understand
   “The Seven Deadly Sins” by John Sawatsky.

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History

Journalism originated in ancient Rome. Archaeologists “dug up” clay tablets on which the decisions of the Senate and city news were carved. After engraving, the plaques were hung in crowded places at the behest of Julius Caesar.

Journalism did not become a separate field until the 17th century. Divided into several different directions, it almost immediately became a tool to influence society. Printed media, namely newspapers, played a significant role in the propaganda of revolutionary ideas in Europe.

The first successful publication was the English newspaper The Daily Courant. Its first issue was printed in 1702, and then it came out daily for 33 years. The proliferation of printed publications and their popularity led to the need for specialists who would gather information, process and organize it, and then turn it into a printed text. This is how the first journalists came into being.

Now, of course, journalists have much more responsibilities than before, because the media in the modern world includes not only newspapers, but also radio, television and the Internet. The media these days is not just a source of some informational data, but a tool that shapes public opinion and sometimes even manipulates it. Therefore, journalists now have a great responsibility: the interpretation of events often depends on their personal qualities and beliefs.

Description

At first glance, the job of a journalist seems interesting and simple. Visiting events and places, communicating with interesting people, and then telling everyone about it – what’s so hard? But it may seem so only to someone who hasn’t yet gotten to know the profession better. Activity – yes, in most cases it is really interesting, but simple journalistic work can not be called.

Working as a journalist, you need to think about a lot of details: choose reliable sources of information and arrange meetings, communicate with a variety of people and find each of them an individual approach, because not everyone will come into contact with a journalist. Finally, you have to present your material with dignity, so that the editor, and then the reader, becomes interested and reads to the end. At the same time, you must write truthfully, without embellishing or exaggerating.

Journalists do not spend the whole day in an editorial office-a lot of time is spent on meetings, interviews, conferences, and presentations. Only after these events does it come down to reading documents, reports and press releases.

In addition, in journalism, it is important to be able to dive deep into the subject matter, to have good connections with sources of information, and to always stay in touch and visible, and often not just during working hours.

The profession of journalism is perfect for active, inquisitive, and communicative people. Those who have a broad outlook and strive to keep abreast of the latest events. However, you should understand that such work combines creativity with a high level of responsibility. A professional journalist is responsible for each word written or spoken in the material, he must be able to convey information objectively to the audience.

A journalist not only writes articles for newspapers and magazines. There are many sources of information now, and each requires “different” journalists. In addition, the profession itself is divided into many specializations.

A military journalist. His job can be not just hard, but even dangerous. Journalists who cover military operations in the media accompany the army, aviation and navy during combat operations.

Before being sent to a hot spot, a war correspondent receives training: he or she learns how to behave (for example, how to properly fall and which way to run in a critical situation), learns to defend themselves and help others by providing first aid, and so on.

A war correspondent must not only navigate quickly during combat operations, but also be able to document everything that happens on the fly – no comfy chairs and hot tea!

Sports Journalist. To become a professional sports journalist, the most important thing is to love with all your heart the sport you’re reporting on. Sports journalists seek, analyze and evaluate information about sports events, interview athletes, coaches and members of sports associations, write articles and host programs about sports in the media (radio, TV).

Sports correspondents often try to do everything at once. They comment on soccer games behind the scenes, participate in sports news programs on television, write their own column in newspapers, and so on. When trying to set your work at a breakneck pace, you have to keep in mind that it is difficult to remain a universal professional. It is much more productive to choose one, the closest direction, and develop in it.
Sports journalists talk to famous athletes and coaches.

A science journalist can be called a guide between science and people. It is he who takes information that is difficult to understand and presents it in a way that everyone understands. Science journalists can explain what information is worth trusting and why, protect against false scientific information, myths, unpleasant or dangerous misconceptions. They provide fascinating insights into the latest research and discoveries, upcoming experiments, and how biological and chemical processes work.

In addition to the fact that a science journalist must write competently, he must of course be knowledgeable in the field about which he writes. And not just knowledgeable, but to be a true expert in it. After all, only in this way can one understand all the processes taking place and be able to describe them in simple language.

Reporter. How it differs from the journalist? To understand the difference, you can compare the two professions to a policeman and a homicide detective. The latter is a more concrete example of the former. A reporter works with primary sources: he interviews, participates in press conferences or news events. Then passes on the facts, information, information gathered. That is all. That is, the reporter does not deal with the data later. He does not edit them, arrange or publish them.

A television journalist, or TV journalist, is a journalist who works on the creation of various television programs and television reports, both entertaining (such as shows) and informational (such as popular science programs). A television journalist seeks out topics for stories, writes news and reports, participates in the creation of television programs, and hosts television programs. As a television journalist, it is important to be active, outgoing, and hardworking. The ability to quickly navigate in a large amount of information and the ability to intelligently express his thoughts are also useful. Last but not least, a clear diction, presentable appearance and the ability to present themselves to the camera.

International journalist. Like any other journalist, an international journalist creates materials for the media. The only difference is that he does it on a global level, that is, he specializes in foreign news. He should not simply know the business well, but also perfectly know languages, understand history, culture, features of life, policy and economy of other states. The work of an international journalist is also a work on oneself that never ends. You always need to be aware of what’s going on in the world, understand the news agenda, to work really well.

Pros

The main advantage of being a journalist is the acquisition and development of many skills: interviewing, writing texts, creating photos and preparing other graphic materials, shooting and editing videos. And it’s all on a new topic every time!

There are many other perks:

• Access to information, people, places
• A credential as a journalist opens many doors closed to other people.
• Interacting with different people
• A journalist does not have to be bored at work. He is always surrounded by a lot of interesting people. All of them have their own views on the world, life experiences and fascinating stories.
• Respect and attention
• In this field you need to work on your name. Famous journalists with a good reputation are always in the public eye.

Minuses

Journalistic work involves a long schedule. Often you have to work at weekends, late at night, and even at night, sometimes there are no free days for a long time. This is probably the main disadvantage of the profession of a journalist. Other disadvantages include:

• Bias.

Let’s be honest. Who likes journalists? Most people don’t have the nicest associations with them. Many people think they are such meticulous people who pry everywhere in search of a scoop. And when they get information, they embellish it or even lie, openly distorting the facts.

• Difficulties in a team

In any workplace a good team plays an important role. In the field of journalism – the most important. People can be different. And some of them are sometimes ready to do anything to achieve universal recognition and career promotion.

• Physical danger and emotional stress

The work of a journalist is always hard. Yes, a war correspondent especially. But there are dangers in other kinds of journalism, too. It’s emotionally hard when you have to look at sick children or people injured in an accident. It’s dangerous when you have to report from the scene of a disaster.

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