Jobs are becoming more diverse as demand for multi-talented employees grows. In the past, agencies were satisfied having graphic designers or copywriters who focused solely on design or copywriting – now it’s common to see job postings seeking designers with photography or website experience, and copywriters with social media management skills, journalism experience and possibly more.
While writing is one of the core skills of journalism, it is also heavily dependent on social and planning skills. For copywriters who have never ventured beyond the comfort of their workstations, going out to conduct an interview can be a daunting task. Worry not. Wordsmith is here to help transform you junior journalists into seasoned hacks!
How to ask better interview questions
Assuming you aren’t going up to random people on the street and shoving a microphone into their faces, formal interviews take more time to plan out. Let’s say you are writing a piece on the “doctors’ and nurses’ fight against the coronavirus” and you have arranged for interviews with medical workers at a local hospital. How should we go about with this?
It’s important to note who your subjects are as you plan the interview. For interviewees on tight schedules (like our doctors and nurses) it’s not unusual to only have 15 minutes for each interview – you need to ask precise questions to make the most out of their time. Giving your interviewees a list of your questions beforehand will help maximise your time and ensure subjects won’t have to formulate responses on the spot.
As for what kind of questions you should ask, it’s tempting to lead off with the most important questions first (ie. “what is the situation in the hospital like now?” or “how long do you expect the current circumstances to last for?”), but that sort of mentality can backfire.
If you think conducting an interview is stressful for you, it’s twice as stressful for the interviewee – they are the ones under the spotlight for you to scrutinise after all! Leading with hard questions can cause inexperienced interviewees to seize up or babble incoherently, so it’s common practice to ease your interviewees into the session with simple questions first (ie. “how are you today?” or “tell me a bit about your duties at this hospital”).
Once you’ve broken the ice, you can get the ball rolling. Always aim to ask open-ended questions instead of close-ended questions. Here’s why:
Close-ended: “Are you feeling stressed out from the current circumstances?”
Open-ended: “How are the current circumstances making you feel?”
Close-ended: “Is the government’s approach to the problems effective?”
Open-ended: “What do you think about the government’s approach to be effective or ineffective?”
Imagine being asked the above questions and think about what kind of answers you can give. Close-ended questions pigeonhole the interviewee into yes or no answers and direct them towards one kind of answer. Open-ended questions allow your interviewees more freedom to their answers – sometimes you might even get a great answer that comes completely out of the blue!
On the interview process
Even with the best preparation, not all interviewees are experts at expressing themselves. Whether due to anxiety, lack of sleep, stress or some other inhibition, interviewees sometimes don’t make it easy for writers. It’s up to the interviewer to press for further elaboration. A poorly explained answer makes for a poor story, so always strive for more detail if possible.
When diving for details, be precise about what you want to know more about. For example, if you asked “How are the current circumstances making you feel?” and the interviewee answered with a blunt I’m feeling stressed, it’s natural to follow up with “Could you specify what is stressing you out?” Some interviewees may also not put a lot of effort into their answers and provide simple responses like: I work long shifts and can’t go home to see my family.
At this point, don’t be afraid to go deeper. Ask about the hospital’s staff self-quarantine procedures or the what the interviewee misses most about being with their families. Human interest stories are supposed to create emotional responses and evoke empathy in readers – a story about someone who longs to go home or to enjoy time with their family does both!
After getting all the important questions answered and there’s still some time left, consider asking more leisurely questions (“What drove you to become a doctor?” or “What inspires you?”). They may not seem particularly relevant to the story, but we promise these’ll come in handy during the writing phase later!
Lastly, remember to make an audio recording of your interviews. Provided you use these for personal reference only, most interviewees don’t mind being recorded if you give them a heads-up in advance. Recordings are not only useful for helping you remember key points, they are also must-haves for precise quotes. Make a little mark in your notes for the timestamps of each question as well, your future self will thank you for not having to listen through the entire interview to find a particular quote!
Setting up the spotlight
Now that you have your interviews finished, it’s time to get cracking on your story. If possible, try to get started on the same day so that the details remain fresh in your mind – otherwise, you’ll end up consulting the audio recordings repeatedly!
To begin the story, we recommend using the responses to the leisurely questions. Coined “hooptedoodle” by writer John Steinbeck, these sort of questions provide filler content. Waffle is often frowned upon in copywriting because of its lack of substantial value, but a softball question can make a great opener for human interest stories.
For example, would you be more captivated by a story that starts with “This is Dr. Chan and he works at the hospital to battle COVID-19”… or would you prefer “A typical shift for Dr. Chan is around 15 hours per shift, but ever since COVID-19, the hospital’s battle against the epidemic has more than doubled his working hours.” Opening with an anecdote is a more exciting way of introducing someone, wouldn’t you agree?
After you have your lead set up, it’s time to write the nut graph. It sounds silly, but it’s a necessary element of every journalism piece. Like a summary, the nut graph conveniently tells your readers what the story is about and why they should care. According to Poynter, the nut graph should also explain why your article is timely – in our case, reporting on medical staff’s fight against the coronavirus is pretty timely considering how devastating the virus’ global impact is.
The rest of the story is then dedicated to the details you’ve gathered from the interview. Be liberal with your usage of quotes. You want to make the story sound like your interviewee is telling it – using their own words is the best way to do so. Once you’ve got everything drafted and approved by your editor, it’s common courtesy to let your interviewee to read through it first before publishing. Doing so achieves two things: a) it’s a sign of respect and b) they can help fact check and vet your work. You can avoid a lot of problems down the line by making sure your quotes and facts are correct!
A human interest story is as interesting as the interviewer and writer allow it to be. With carefully planned questions and sharp wits, you can get the most out of your interviewees – and make their stories shine!
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Image credits attributions:
(1) Job interview: by Kika Fuenzalida - https://mixkit.co/free-stock-art/job-interview-in-a-modern-office-378/
(2) Checklist: by stories - https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/checklist-concept-illustration_5573507.htm#page=1&query=checklist&position=21
(3) Interview dialogue: by unknown artist - https://dm1zcrsul8wju.cloudfront.net/sites/rcn_nspace/files/styles/tile_image/public/Article-images/160856/nr.2020.e1718_abs.jpg?itok=UhPckDQg
(4) Woman on phone: by Kika Fuenzalida - https://mixkit.co/free-stock-art/receptionist-at-a-front-desk-talking-on-a-mobile-phone-377/