SSJ Workshop - Interview and Report Writing Tips

Interview Skills Workshop

Louise Third

Interviewing skills

•The STEM reporter’s role

•Fact-finding: the 5 W’s

•Six interview tips

•Interview practice and feedback

•Ten tips for news writers

•The STEM Report template

STEM reporters role

•Spot a STEM news story

•Do your research

•Plan those questions

•Schedule the interview/s

•Write-up immediately

•Photograph the ‘story’

Fact-finding: The 5 W’s of all news items

•Who?

•What?

•Why?

•Where?

•When?

Six interview tips

•Be prepared

•Be prepared, but not rigid

•Don’t be afraid of silences

•Always ask for clarification

•Tell fast talkers to slow down

•Get names spelled out

Interview exercise for ‘Lincolnshire Echo’*

In pairs, find out the following:

•Who they are and why they are here

•What interests them about the STEM Student Journalist project

•Why ‘Lincolnshire’ school pupils should get involved

* Substitute own local paper

Ten tips for news writers

1.Find the focus – what is the news?

2.Who’s the story about?

3.Tell that story in one word – innovation, skills, trust, hunger

4.Before you write – organise notes

5.Create a great opening sentence

6.Use active language

7.Avoid overuse of adjectives – remain objective

8.Focus on detail and facts

9.Watch sentence length

10.Just read! Read good writers

Using the STEM Report template

•What is happening?

•Who is involved?

•Why is the activity interesting?

•How can readers learn from this?

Examples of reports from 2008/9