{"id":649,"date":"2011-04-11T06:32:14","date_gmt":"2011-04-11T10:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2017-04-19T23:58:43","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T03:58:43","slug":"13-tips-for-a-good-interview-and-thus-a-great-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/13-tips-for-a-good-interview-and-thus-a-great-story\/","title":{"rendered":"13 Tips for a Good Interview (and Thus, a Great Story)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Conducting
Good questions make for good answers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sometimes, finding a good story isn\u2019t the problem. You could be innocently sitting at your desk, sneaking in a play on Facebook Scrabble, when you get a new email. Why, it\u2019s from the academic dean, and he just wanted to let you know about this student who is not only first chair trombone in the local symphony orchestra, but has also not allowed a goal in net all season as the lacrosse team\u2019s goalie and has logged 250 hours of community service this semester at a nearby soup kitchen. Oh, and she\u2019s got a 4.0 GPA, pre-med. And she was raised by wolves. OK, fine, she wasn\u2019t raised by wolves, but she does hail from a small mountain town in Wyoming and is a first-generation college student.<\/p>\n

\n
Sometimes the stories write themselves, don\u2019t they? No, actually. They never do.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Man! What a great profile for the website! Sometimes the stories write themselves, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

No, actually. They never do.<\/p>\n

The bulk of the writing for any story\u2014which, for the purposes of this discussion, could be a news story, a Q&A, a thumbnail profile or any kind of narrative web feature\u2014comes before you even type the first word. It comes in the research and the interview. <\/p>\n

Here are some interview tips to make writing of a good story easier:<\/p>\n

1. Do your research<\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t rely on the subject to tell you everything in the interview. Spare everyone\u2019s time by learning as much as you can beforehand. This will help make your questions more informed (\u201cWhat was the key to winning player of the week three weeks in a row?\u201d versus \u201cHow successful has this season been for you?\u201d)<\/p>\n

2. Why are you writing this, and who is it for? <\/h2>\n
\n
In writing-speak, a goal is an angle. Have a good sense of what you want this story to ultimately accomplish. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In writing-speak, a goal is an angle. Have a good sense of what you want this story to ultimately accomplish. Where will it be published? Will it be a long feature or a brief? Will it run in both print and web? Who is the target audience? What impression do you want your audience to come away with having read it? What do you want them to do? <\/p>\n

3. Location, location, location <\/h2>\n

Pick an interview location you know will be available and relatively quiet. That said, be prepared to go with the flow. I\u2019ve set up interviews in the Campus Center, only to arrive and find the Campus Center randomly closed for construction. Have a backup spot in mind, and don\u2019t get worked up about it\u2014it won\u2019t help the interview if you curl into a stressball.<\/p>\n

4. Photo and video<\/h2>\n

The best location for an interview may not be the best location for a photo or video shoot, and vice versa. Plus, some people get nervous around cameras. If you can avoid it, try to have your interview and any camera action take place separately. Don\u2019t worry about requesting two slices of your subject\u2019s time. Everyone wants publicity, and they will spend the time to get it.<\/p>\n

5. Did you get all of that? <\/h2>\n

In addition to taking copious notes, you should audio record every interview you do, but always ask permission first, both for phone and in-person interview. I let the subject know it\u2019s just for transcription purposes (unless I know that we may be doing a multimedia component, in which case I let them know that, as well). <\/p>\n

6. Use your questions as a guide <\/h2>\n
\n
Be open to where the conversation takes you.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s always good to come up with a list of questions ahead of time, but don\u2019t stick to them rigidly. Be open to where the conversation takes you. Ask follow-up questions. Extract context. Press for additional details. <\/p>\n

7. Don\u2019t be afraid of tangents <\/h2>\n

While sometimes tangents can be dangerous, especially if you\u2019re short on time or end up getting way off track, they can sometimes lead you to places where the subject is more at ease. That can help with the rest of the interview. If you\u2019re profiling a professor of engineering, but you happen to know he is also an avid cook, chat about that for a little while. You\u2019ll likely stoke a passion that will open him up, and you may even find some neat metaphors for your piece.<\/p>\n

8. Delve into their background<\/h2>\n

Whether I\u2019m interviewing a jazz saxophonist or a geneticist, I always ask how they got interested in what they\u2019re doing. The answer likely goes back to high school or college, sometimes earlier, and often makes for a good anecdote that may end up as your lead.<\/p>\n

9. Avoid yes\/no questions<\/h2>\n
\n
Ask questions designed to solicit open-ended, reflective or explanatory answers. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ask questions designed to solicit open-ended, reflective or explanatory answers. \u201cWere you guys excited to win the championship?\u201d gets replaced with \u201cHow did it feel to hoist the trophy after you scored the winning goal?\u201d<\/p>\n

10. Get the details <\/h2>\n

Years, dates, hometowns, last names\u2014I get as much of this as I can during the interview. You don\u2019t want to rely solely on the…<\/p>\n

11. Follow-up <\/h2>\n

At the end of every interview, I always ask for the best way to get in touch if I have any follow-up questions, because chances are, I will. Don\u2019t be afraid to ask follow-up questions or to get confirmation on spellings, dates, etc. Something that made sense during the interview may make little sense three days later.<\/p>\n

12. Always Be Closing <\/h2>\n

The best way to close an interview is to simply ask if there is anything you didn\u2019t cover. I\u2019m always shocked when I get responses like, \u201cOh, well, I\u2019m also founding this nonprofit\u201d or \u201cWell, I\u2019m also going to Africa next week to teach English for a year.\u201d Then the interview goes on for another 15 minutes. But that\u2019s OK. That\u2019s the good stuff. And since it got brought up voluntarily, they must be passionate about it.<\/p>\n

13. Talk to others<\/h2>\n

In your interview, ask your subject whom she works closely with, respects or admires, or holds as a favorite professor. Then, go chat with them\u2014they may not only give you additional details or fact-checks, but also supply some great supporting quotes.<\/p>\n

How do you make sure you nail the interview? What questions do you ask? What other prep work goes into writing a good story?<\/p>\n

Photo by sskennel<\/a> \/ Flickr Creative Commons<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, finding a good story isn\u2019t the problem. You could be innocently sitting at your desk, sneaking in a play on Facebook Scrabble, when you get a new email. Why, it\u2019s from the academic dean, and he just wanted to let you know about this student who is not only first chair trombone in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[26,35,31,11],"yoast_head":"\n13 Tips for a Good Interview (and Thus, a Great Story) | Meet Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"13 tips for having a good interview to help write a high-quality story, profile or other web feature\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/13-tips-for-a-good-interview-and-thus-a-great-story\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Georgy Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/13-tips-for-a-good-interview-and-thus-a-great-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/13-tips-for-a-good-interview-and-thus-a-great-story\/\",\"name\":\"13 Tips for a Good Interview (and Thus, a Great Story) | Meet Content\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-04-11T10:32:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-20T03:58:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c46e3050ea513291a46336298ee82c91\"},\"description\":\"13 tips for having a good interview to help write a high-quality story, profile or other web feature\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/13-tips-for-a-good-interview-and-thus-a-great-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Content\",\"description\":\"Empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/c46e3050ea513291a46336298ee82c91\",\"name\":\"Georgy Cohen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed49bc8dd530713ec3ccdf6523f474b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed49bc8dd530713ec3ccdf6523f474b5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Georgy Cohen\"},\"description\":\"Georgy Cohen is associate creative director, content strategy, at OHO Interactive in Cambridge, Mass.. 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