Lesson One: Reaching Out
Most articles, unless they are a review or an opinion article, will require you to interview someone. This can be an incredibly daunting task for new writers and can cause a lot of anxiety. But there are some simple skills you can use to make yourself feel more confident when interviewing someone.
BEFORE YOU CONTACT A SOURCE
It is important when interviewing someone for an article to acknowledge that building rapport with someone starts from your initial contact with them. As a result, it’s important to consider where you first contact them (what platform) and how you first contact them (the language and tone you use). What works for one interviewee may not be suitable for another interviewee, so it’s important to do your research first.
If your interviewing someone famous or well-known read other interviews they’ve done in the past, this will give you an insight into their personality and hopefully stop you from asking questions they’ve already been asked before.
If you’re interviewing an expert or academic, make sure you read up on their research and make sure their area of expertise is relevant to your article.
HOW TO MAKE CONTACT?
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to contact your interviewee. Your realistic options for contacting an interviewee are either:
1. Email
2. Social media
3. Phone
In most cases, emailing your interviewee is the best way to go. It comes across as more professional than social media and less invasive than a phone call. If you do not get a response to an email interview request, then message the interviewee on social media or via text to let them know you’ve sent them an email as it may have ended up in their spam box.
If you only have a phone number, message the interviewee prior to calling them and ask them for an interview rather than calling them directly. Unless you have a super tight deadline, your first point of contact for an interview for a feature article, Q&A or profile should never be a phone call. This is because it can often intimidate interviewees or make them feel unprepared which means they may not be very open during the interview.
Only contact an interviewee by social media if you can’t find their email anywhere or they aren’t responding to email.
WHAT TO INCLUDE WHEN YOU REACH OUT?
When you reach out to ask for an interview, make the email short and sweet and use casual but polite language. You first point of contact should always include the following things:
Introduce yourself.
Let them know how you got their contact details. If it was from a mutual friend or acquaintance this can be a great way to build rapport early on.
Tell them what publication you are writing for.
Tell them what the article is about.
Let them know why you want to interview them. Are they an expert in the topic etc?
Tell them your deadline for the article (this should be a few days before your actual deadline)
Tell them how (by phone, email or in-person) and when you’d like to do the interview.