by Judy Darley
When you work as a journalist, carrying out interviews with the people you admire can be one of the major perks. However, choosing your target interviewee can be tricky. Unless you’ve been commissioned by a big publication or are well-known as a writer yourself, it can be difficult to convince A-list celebs that taking time out of their schedule to chat to you will be worth their while. Likewise, you don’t want to waste your time talking to people who don’t interest you or your readers.
How to Start A good place to start is by drawing up a list of all the people you would love to interview, however famous or unreachable they may seem. Then have a search online to see if they have a website. If they do and it includes a contact email address, you’re in with a good chance. Send them or their agent a preliminary email introducing yourself and your publication, telling them why you want to interview them and who your readers are. Think of it being a bit like the covering email you would send with a job application, and sell yourself!
How to Connect If possible, arrange to meet the individual in person. By meeting face to face you can ad-lib more easily than you can over the phone, as you will be able to see from their body language how receptive they are. If you can’t get to where they are, a phone conversation is a good option as you can follow up anything they say that piques your interest. If they are very busy, email will work well as you can simply sent a list of questions and wait for them to complete it in their own time.
What to Ask Make sure you do plenty of research before deciding what to ask. Remember that the reason they are speaking to you is to sell their latest movie/novel/album, and be willing to allow them to do a bit of that. After all, if acting/singing/writing is what they’re known for, your readers will want to know about their latest release.
How Long to Interview Make sure you keep the actual interview as brief as possible. If they’re good interviewees, you should be able to get everything you need within half an hour. The best interviews happen when the interview is in a chatty mood and all you need to do is nudge them occasionally to keep the conversation focused. Keep in mind the points you want to cover, but be flexible enough to change direction if they make an interesting, unexpected comment.
Tips and Tricks Even if you don’t think of yourself as a particularly good photographer, always have a camera ready. An interview is so much more valuable if you have high resolution images to illustrate it with, and if you can take one yourself you won’t have to rely on the individual to provide one afterwards, which means you don’t have to worry about them letting you down. Finally, enjoy the experience. The more relaxed you are, the more fun the conversation will be, which will set both you and the interviewee at ease. This is your chance to ask whatever you want, so prepare well, be polite and friendly and find out the things you and your readers have always wanted to know.
About Judy Darley Judy Darley is a freelance writer and editor based in Bristol. She has been published by a broad range of travel and lifestyle magazines, including Spanish Homes Magazine where she was features editor until August 2008. She now divides her time between writing fiction and features. She is the founder and editor of EssentialWriters.com, a website for writers, by writers.
