THE ART OF THE TELEPHONE INTERVIEW

The telephone interview doesn’t replace face-to-face interviewing, but reporters need to know how to turn a telephone interview into the next best thing. Here are some suggestions on how to gather            essential detail:

1)      Because you are not on the scene, you must turn the interviewee into your eyes and ears. You need to elicit the type of specific detail that you could have seen (or heard, smelled, tasted or touched) had you been there.

2)      Don’t be afraid to ask relevant micro-questions. If you are trying to recreate a picture of a room, don’t hesitate to ask where things are, the colour of the chesterfield, the pictures in the room … anything that will help you paint a clear picture or create a clear image for your readers.

3)      Direct the interview. Slow the interviewee down so that he or she concentrates on one scene at a time. Don’t allow the person to leave one scene or issue until you have fully understood or visualized it. You’ll know you have enough when you have a mental picture to recreate a specific scene for readers.

4)      Keep questions simple and specific. Here’s an example from a story on a woman who lived in a redwood tree in California for more than two years: What’s the weather like? What’s your living space look like? What’s it feel like? What are you doing now?

5)      Collect lots of detail. You should have more in your notebook than you can use. The reason you need all of the detail, however, is so that you can write with confidence – write as if you were there.

6)      Even more detail. One writer notes: “Details make a story real. Describe. Be specific. Dump vagueness. Show, do not tell. Do not summarize scenes, recreate them. In Mark Twain’s words, ‘Don’t say the old lady screamed – bring her on and let her scream’.”

7)      Be careful not to guide the interviewee too much. Do not put words in the interviewee’s mouth. Guide the interview enough so that the interviewee knows what you are looking for.

8)      Look for good quotations as you search for the details. Often, this comes from follow up questions when an interviewee has answered in a general way.

9)      Before you make the call, take a few moments to think about your story and to write down your most important questions in advance. You don’t have to stick to your list, but it provides you with a starting point.

10)  Always ask your interviewee who else you should talk to about a story. Ask for help in tracking down others who might be closer to the story. It could be those on the front line, those putting a policy into action, those who have been through similar change and can tell readers how it worked or what to expect.

11)  Look for anecdotes, scenes, dialogue, physical description that help show the topic or person.

12)  Don’t talk yourself out of going on location if that is essential to the story.

(Don Gibb, Ryerson University School of Journalism)