Conducting Interviews

by Moira Allen

Recently I got a call from a PR agent who had set up an interview for me with one of her clients. She wanted to let me know how much the client had "enjoyed" the interview -- a rare experience, apparently. She also wanted to let me know that if I needed more information, I had only to ask.

My first reaction was "Gee, what did I do?" My second was to wonder what other writers had done to give this client such a negative view of interviews. I'll never know the answer to the second question. However, I do know that there are easy steps any writer can take to make a positive impression -- before, during, and after an interview.

Before the Interview

By taking the right steps to set up your interview, you can ensure that you make a good impression, get the information you want, and (perhaps) gain a contact you can use for future articles.

1) Prepare your questions in advance. By having a list of questions handy, you'll be able to answer an interviewee who asks, "What do you want to ask about?" You'll also be prepared in case the interviewee surprises you by saying "Now is a good time!"

2) Ask for a specific amount of time. Do you want half an hour? An hour? This will help your interviewee schedule the appointment (and is especially important if you're scheduling through a secretary or assistant).

3) Be honest about your purpose. If you don't have a firm assignment, don't pretend that you do. (You can, however, explain that you're "pitching" the article to a specific market.) Don't claim credentials that you don't have. Unless you're trying to interview a celebrity, you'll find that most people are willing to talk to "ordinary" writers.

4) Don't confuse time zones. Always refer to the interviewee's time zone when making appointments -- e.g., "I'll call you at 2:00 your time." Don't even mention your own time zone; if you say something like "I'll call you at 4:00, which is 2:00 my time," you may confuse the interviewee as to which time you're actually calling. Be sure you know exactly when the interview is scheduled as well; it can be embarrassing to call three hours too early or too late!

5) Let the interviewee schedule the interview. Often, you'll be asked what time is convenient. Instead of setting a time yourself, suggest a range of times, such as "any afternoon next week," or "any time on Wednesday or Thursday." This gives the interviewee flexibility to work you into the schedule. Try not to leave interviews to the last minute; while many interviewees try to be helpful with respect to deadlines, you never know when someone will be out of town, too busy, or otherwise unavailable.

6) Ask the interviewee how s/he would prefer to be interviewed. Many people now prefer e-mail interviews, as this allows them to respond on their own time, and gives them the leisure to provide more in-depth answers. However, if you feel that you may need to follow up on questions, or have more control over the interview, you may prefer to push for a telephone interview.

7) Be prepared to e-mail your questions to the interviewee in advance. Business executives often prefer this, as it enables them to prepare for the specific types of information you're looking for. This won't always work if you're conducting a sensitive, personal, or controversial interview, but it does work if you're just gathering basic facts.

During the Interview

Keep your interviewee happy with the interview process by remaining courteous and professional -- no matter what! As long as you remain polite, your interviewee is unlikely to be offended, even if your questions are sensitive or controversial.

1) Be prepared. Again, having a list of questions prepared in advance can help you guide the interview in the direction you want it to go. It can also help you double-check to make sure you've gotten all the information you need. Note that you may not actually "read" every one of your questions; often, an interviewee's response to one question will give you the answers to other questions you wanted to ask.

2) Remember that the interview is about the interviewee, not about you. You are there to gather information, not to judge the person or the material. It doesn't matter how you feel about the person, whether you agree or disagree with his/her perspective, or whether you like what you hear. Keep in mind as well that if you remain calm and nonjudgmental, you're likely to get far more material than if you react negatively to the interviewee's responses. (This applies to writing the interview as well. Let the reader judge the subject by his/her own words, not by your reactions to those words!)

3) Interact with the interviewee. Don't just fire off questions and jot down the answers. Respond. Make "uh-huh" and "I see" and "Oh, really?" noises. Let the interviewee know that you are listening, and that you are genuinely interested in the information. Volunteer an occasional comment that shows that you understand what you are being told.

4) Let the interviewee set the tone. Don't assume familiarity; instead, let the interviewee determine whether the discussion proceeds formally or informally. Don't volunteer personal information or "chat" unless the interviewee has indicated that this seems appropriate.

5) Use the interviewee's responses to keep the interview on track. If the interviewee goes off on a tangent, don't just fire off another question to get back "on track." Instead, refer back to something the interviewee has already discussed, e.g., "Getting back to what you were saying earlier about..." This shows, again, that you are listening, and indicates an interest in gathering more information, rather than a lack of interest in whatever the interviewee is currently discussing.

6) Always thank the interviewee for his/her time when the interview is over.

After the Interview

An interview isn't necessarily "over" just because you've hung up the phone. You may need to come back for more information or clarification. You may also want to call upon that person's expertise in the future, for other articles. The following courtesies can help keep you in the interviewee's good will.

1) Send a thank-you note by e-mail or snail-mail. Let the interviewee know when and where the article will be published (if you know), or promise to provide that information once you have it.

2) Ask your editor to send complimentary copies of the issue to each interviewee. Be sure to include a list of interviewees (with their addresses) when you send in your article. If an editor balks, ask for extra copies to be sent to you, so that you can send them yourself.

3) When the article is published, send a copy with another thank-you letter. (It's usually best to do this by snail-mail; don't send the article as an e-mail attachment!) Ask whether the interviewee has received the complimentary copy (and remind the editor to send this if the answer is no).

Conducting E-mail Interviews and Surveys

E-mail can be an effective and convenient way to conduct an interview, and is often appreciated by busy experts who don't have time for a face-to-face or telephone interview. It enables you to compose questions carefully rather than "on the fly," and gives your interviewee time to respond carefully as well. E-mail also offers a good way to follow up on a traditional interview, when seeking clarification or additional information.

E-mail interviews are especially useful when the interviewee's information will constitute a very small part of your article, or, alternatively, when the article will be based almost verbatim on the interviewee's words, as in a Q&A; interview or similar piece. They may also be appropriate when:

• The interviewee specifies a preference for being interviewed in this fashion.
  
  
• The interviewee is too busy for a traditional interview.
  
  
• Conflicting schedules and/or time zones make telephone interviewing difficult.
  
  
• You know exactly what questions you want to ask. (This often requires some background knowledge of the subject.)
  
  
• The subject is relatively impersonal. (An e-mail interview wouldn't be appropriate for discussing a tragic or deeply personal issue.)
  
  
• The interview can be conducted with a limited number of questions.

E-mail interviews are less effective when you're trying to develop a profile or catch a personal glimpse of the interviewee -- a profile that would include not only the individual's words but also your observations of the person's appearance, actions, skills, emotions, tone of voice, etc. They are less effective if you don't know enough about a subject to develop useful questions, or when you're more likely to get information from the natural flow of questions and answers than from a predefined script. In an e-mail interview, you can't change direction if a more promising tangent emerges from the conversation; you can't nudge the interviewee back on track if the conversation strays or ask follow-on questions if your first questions don't elicit enough information; and you can't ask for immediate explanations or clarification.

The following strategies can help you develop and refine an e-mail interview:

1. Determine your goals before writing your questions. Decide exactly what you need to know; then develop questions that will best elicit that information.
   
   
2. Ask open-ended questions rather than questions that can be answered "yes" or "no." For example, instead of asking, "Do you enjoy writing children's books?" ask, "What do you enjoy most about writing children's books?" or "What are some of the things you enjoy about writing children's books?"
   
   
3. If necessary, explain why you are asking a particular question, so the interviewee has a better idea of the response you're looking for.
   
   
4. Let the interviewee know what audience or market you're writing for, so that the interviewee will know how detailed or technical the information should be.
   
   
5. Keep your questions as clear, uncomplicated, and short as possible.
   
   
6. Keep your list of questions as short as possible. Ten is good; twenty is likely to tax an interviewee's patience.
   
   
7. List your questions numerically, and leave space between each question for the interviewee to insert the answer.
   
   
8. Include a final "open" question -- e.g., "Is there anything else you'd like to say on this subject that hasn't been covered above?" that will enable the interviewee to add information or ideas that weren't covered by your script.
   
   
9. Let the interviewee know how soon you need the answers. (If you need to follow up on a late interview, be polite; remember that the interviewee is doing you a favor, and is under no obligation to comply with your request or meet your deadline.)
   
   
10. Don't be afraid to ask for clarification, or to follow up on questions or answers that beg for additional information. And always thank your interviewee!
    
    

E-mail Surveys

Another way to gather information via e-mail is to conduct a survey. Once again, the Internet offers an unparalleled opportunity: You can send a list of questions to hundreds of potential respondents, at no cost.

At the same time, caution is in order. Some respondents may regard a survey as a form of spam. Your e-mail should state the nature and purpose of the survey as quickly, succinctly, and courteously as possible. Assure respondents of privacy, and guarantee that you won't cite anyone by name or organization without permission. If you're soliciting comments as well as statistics, ask respondents to indicate whether or not they may be quoted, and how they should be cited.

Like interview questions, survey questions should be short, clear, well-organized, and limited in number. Unlike interview questions, however, survey questions should encourage "yes/no" answers, or answers to a multiple-choice selection of options. Respondents are also more likely to answer a short questionnaire than a long one.

An easy format is to follow each question with the answer options (e.g., "Yes" or "No") on a separate line or lines. Place a set of parentheses in front of each option, with space for a response:

1) Do you accept e-mail queries?
(    ) Yes
(    ) No

2) How do you prefer to receive manuscripts?
(    ) Hardcopy (printed)
(    ) On diskette
(    ) By e-mail, in the body of the e-mail message
(    ) As an e-mail attachment

To ensure your respondents' privacy, place all your survey addresses in the "BCC" (blind copy) field of your header. Leave the "TO" field blank, or enter a generic title in that field (such as "editor" or "director"). That title will then show up as the "addressee" on each survey form, but addressees won't be able to see the addresses of your other respondents.. (You'll receive a notice that this "blank" e-mail was undeliverable, but the blind copies will go through.) If you have a large number of addressees, send the survey in several batches rather than all at once.

When you mail your survey, several may bounce back immediately as undeliverable. Keep track of these bounces so that you know exactly how many surveys went out. This will enable you to calculate the correct percentage of responses. For example, if you send out 100 surveys, get ten back as undeliverable, and receive fifty responses, you have a 55 percent response rate.

The bulk of your responses will typically arrive in a flood within the first two or three days of your mailing. After that, the flow will taper to a trickle. At some point, you'll have to decide when it's time to cut off the survey and tally the results, even if you're still getting an occasional response. It's also helpful to set up a separate mailbox to store your responses until you're ready to tally them.

Once you've completed the survey, make a list of the respondents and send them a thank-you note for participating. If respondents are interested in the results of your survey, let them know when and where the article will appear.

Perhaps more than any other electronic invention, e-mail has changed the way writers and editors do business. Like any technology, however, e-mail can easily be abused. Its simplicity often fosters an inappropriate attitude of informality, an inattention to detail. Because e-mail costs virtually nothing, it can also be overused. Editors have no more wish to be bombarded with e-mail messages than with phone calls. Authors, experts, and others who post an e-mail address on a Web site still value their privacy, and are under no obligation to reply to every message they receive.

Simple courtesy and professionalism, however, will go far toward keeping lines of communication open between writers, editors, and experts, for whom the negatives are generally far outweighed by the positives!

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