As a freelance writer, you may write articles about people for magazines, newspapers, and websites. Or you may need to interview someone for information on a book or piece you’re writing.
You want to get very good at doing interviews, including getting the best information possible with the least amount of work.
In this post I’ll examine the two important precursors to a successful interview: getting agreement for the interview, and scheduling the interview. In a forthcoming post, I’ll give you 11 tips for conducting successful interviews.
Getting Agreement for the Interview
First off, contact the potential interviewee as soon as possible to actually set up the interview. Phone is typically better than e-mail.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Identify yourself and state why you want the interview. This includes explaining what you’re writing, who the audience is, and the size of the audience.
2. State how long you would like the interview to be and how you want to do it. Be open to negotiation, especially if it’s a famous person or someone with a very busy schedule.
3. Discuss whether the interview will be in-person or over the phone.
4. Ask if the person has a media kit they can send you.
Scheduling the Interview
Schedule the interview so you have plenty of time after it’s complete to process the information and do what you need to do for your piece.
Important: confirm the interview day, time, and length the day before, even if you can only leave a phone message or send an e-mail.
Your subject may ask to see the questions ahead of time. This is often a reasonable request: you want the subject to have good answers ready. Depending on the type of interview and the nature of your interviewee, you should also keep some questions in reserve for follow-up and so the interviewee can’t totally shape the interview to his or her liking.
Any advice to share about getting agreement for an interview? Scheduling?
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