By Elaine Shein, ACN 2016 Past President
As journalists, we often hear we’re only as good as our last story so we should always give our very best effort in anything we write.
However, it’s even more important to realize our stories are only as good as the interviews we do as we prepare to write those stories.
How many of you have truly thought about and done a self-examination of your interview style? Do you like to carefully structure your interview in advance, then follow that roadmap toward what you hope will get your interview to its destination? Or do you like to “just wing it” and feel you’ll get what you need by being more informal in your approach? Do you write down questions for yourself? Do you feel more comfortable giving out in advance all or some of your questions to the person you’re going to interview? Or is it a combination — you jotted down some key areas or questions you know you must cover and can refer to as needed, but you try to adapt to the situation and come up with questions along the way as the interview unfolds?
Whenever you finish your interview, do you ever take the time to do a self-evaluation on how did that interview go — what went well, what didn’t, and what maybe you could have done better?
No matter how long you have been in the writing business and how many interviews you’ve done — and how many deadlines you are currently worried about — there is always room to grow.
Last summer at the Ag Media Summit, there were some discussions on what areas people might like for future professional development. Interviewing skills was near the top of the list.
I promise you that if you work on your interviewing skills, it will help you be more efficient with your interviews and get the facts, quotes, color and details you wanted.
I decided to write a few columns to share what I’ve learned from about 35 years in the business and hope you’ll join me in this journey. Let’s make this interactive and a conversation about interviewing. I welcome your feedback on Agricultural Communicators Network’s Facebook page, and I also plan to approach some of you directly to share what you learned or struggle with in interviews so I can share your perspective in future columns.
I also will give you at least one challenge each time.
This week’s challenge: Watch on TV or on YouTube at least one interview done by a daytime or late-night talk show host. Post your answers under the Interview 101 Series Post on ACN’s Facebook page: @AgCommNetwork.
Elaine Shein is an ACN Past President and currently the Chairwoman of the International Committee. She is the DTN Associate Managing Editor in Omaha, Nebraska. Shein has formerly worked for Capital Press in Oregon, The Western Producer and Regina Leader-Post in Saskatchewan, Canada, and Gemini News Service in London, England.
Elaine Shein can be reached at [email protected]