Getting the Goods - Interviews that Work (Session 2)
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Getting the Goods: Interviews that Work
Jacqui Banaszynski Knight Chair in Editing at the University of Missouri
May 8-‐9, 2013
THE MASTERS: Metzler, Sawatsky • KEN METZLER: Longtime
professor and author from University of Oregon. Wrote ‘Bible’ of interviewing texts.
• JOHN SAWATSKY: Canadian investigative reporter and university professor; ESPN interviewing coach
• Studied and shared wisdom about effective questions
POWER OF WHAT? HOW? WHY?
• WHAT questions seek more information, scene, anecdote.
• HOW questions get at explanation and causality.
• WHY questions get at motivation, attitude, character, opinion.
Photo by flickr user Andreas Kollegger
LET’S WORK ON QUESTIONS • ASSIGNMENT: Interview a
50-something factory worker who lost his job in the recession. He’s not old enough to retire, not young enough to retrain. Your curiosity:
How does it feel to be in your situation?
Photo by flickr user Workers4America
Let’s find questions that help him answer. Frame your interest in What? How? Why? questions.
TIP 1: REVEAL EMOTION and CHARACTER
• Ask not how people feel (or think) but what they do.
– What did you do on the last day at work? Right after you locked the doors for the last time?
• Ask about specific moments or actions.
– What was your favorite day on the job?
• Put questions in a frame. – What will you miss most? – If there are three things you could have
done differently, what would they be?
Photo by flickr user merfam
THE MASTERS: Isabel Wilkerson on “Accelerated Intimacy”
• Interviewing as relationship • Interviewing as multi-phase
process • Approach and attitude more
important than specific questions – Audition for the right subject/
storyteller – Create partners – Create storytellers
POLL QUESTION 1 What are the primary reasons people are motivated to talk to reporters?
Photos by flickr users Reporter de Futuro and Reporter do Futuro
TIP 2: CREATE PARTNERS • Give subjects a
reason to invest and trust. – Tap their
motivation. • Demystify your
process, but keep needed control.
Photo by flickr user Studio Roosegaarde
What does off-the-record mean?
POLL QUESTION 2
Photo by rpongsaj
TIP 3: NEGOTIATE TERMS UP FRONT
• Don’t assume shared understanding or agreement.
• Explain your purpose, process and context.
• Determine source concerns. – Ask questions to find solutions.
Photo by flickr user Victor1558
TIP 4: DIFFERENTIATE SOURCES, RELATIONSHIPS & ETHICS
• Officials, public figures, experts, celebrities – Equal players, power dynamics
• Vulnerable – Considerations of ethics, ID, credibility and compassion
• Ordinary folk – Context and “informed consent”
Photo by flickr user jturn
POLL QUESTION #3 How/where do you do the majority of your interviews?
Photo by flickr user Shine 2010 - 2010 World Cup good news
TIP 5: SPEND TIME, SLOW DOWN • Plan ahead to maximize
time. • Pace the interview with
your notebook.
• Give people time to think, remember, articulate.
• Probe and peel. -- With What? How? Why? questions
Photo by flickr user sskennel
TIP 6: FOR EVERY QUESTION, ASK 5 MORE
• Be an active, interested listener. • Listen and develop storyteller questions:
– “Start at the beginning.” – “Give me an example.” – “Tell me about a time.” – “Tell me more.” – “Uh huh.” “Wow.” Hmmm.” – Really? Really! Really.
Photo by flickr user gmilldrum
TIP 7: KEEP SHUT UP
• Let silence work for you….
LET’S WORK ON QUESTIONS • ASSIGNMENT: You must do a
deadline interview/profile of a local artisan who won a MacArthur Genius Grant. He handcrafts bows for stringed instruments, and has found a way to bridge the best of old-world standards and modern music expectations.
Photo by flickr user Eduardo Francés Bruno - Luthier
Your curiosity: What was your reaction, and what, exactly is it you do that makes you so smart? What questions could help you gather color, emotion and sparkling quotes very quickly?
TIP 8: SEEK OUT “NATIVE HABITAT” • Try to interview or envision
people in the context that informs the story purpose.
• Set a scene or see action. • Notice meaningful details or
surroundings. • Use props or artifacts as
storytelling prompts. – Photographs, books, personal
treasures – Status details (report out for
relevancy)
Photo by flickr user U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Northeast Region
TIP 9: REPORT WITH ALL SENSES • Pay attention not just to what
the person says but to… – Other sounds – Sights – Touch – Taste – Smell Use sensory detail to paint
scenes or to prompt better questions.
Photo by flickr user gingerbydesign
And the SIXTH SENSE • Pay attention to your own
emotion or perception. – Tap your humanity. – Inform reader reaction/
curiosity through your own. – Channel it into better
questions.
Poll Question #4 • On average,
how long are most of your interviews?
Photo by flickr user wwarby
TIP 10: BE COLUMBO • Always do a second interview. • Move to a close, then reopen.
– Linger and listen. – Ask what is most important to know or
understand. – Ask for elaboration on a gap in your
notebook. – Ask whom else to talk to or what
others would say.. • Use fact-checking as a second
interview. • ALWAYS ask… “How do you know?” Photo copyright NBC Universal
Television
TIP 11: DARE TO BE STUPID • Ask what you don’t know or
don’t understand. • Ask what you think you know
that you might not. • Clarify terms, jargon,
understanding. – Restate it in your own
language or understanding. • Seek plain-speak analogies
or examples. Photo by flickr user Candie_N
QUESTIONS?
• Email: Banaszynskij@missouri.edu
• Twitter: @JacquiB
Photo by flickr user Marco Bellucci
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