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Gathering content for your Printed Newsletter: During: Listen, Listen and Listen

Gathering content for your Printed Newsletter: During: Listen, Listen and Listen – 27th November 2009
The first few minutes are the most critical. It’s your job to set the person at ease. Smile –even if you’re on the phone. People can “hear” a smile through your conversational tone of voice. If interviewing in person, don’t take out your notebook right away. Once the person begins to smile or laugh, the interview will flow more easily.

Before you start, ask if the person has any questions about your article or publication. Some people need the reassurance that they’ll be able to see a copy of the article before it is printed.

Start with easy questions to establish a rapport and get the person to relax. The exception to this is when you’re interviewing someone who’s extremely busy. In that case, cut right to the important questions, and get the more basic information from their assistants.

Once you’ve dispensed with the chitchat and moved on to the meatier questions, listen carefully to what is being said. The only way to uncover the human element for your story is to be genuinely interested. You never know what you’re going to learn… and that’s the thrill of the hint. Let a response lead you into new territory. Also, if something comes up that you don’t understand, ask, “Can you help me find the words and terms our readers would understand?”

Some people are quite reticent and will require some sparring – approaching the same subject from several different angles – before you get the information you need. Be pleasant, yet persistent. Come back to the important questions several times.

Probe for human interest items. Search for tension, drama and opposing forces. Conflicts and resolutions or problems and solutions make an article come alive.

At the conclusion of the interview, keep your ears open. Key information often emerges once you’ve shut off the tape recorder or put away the note pad. Write any final quotes down quickly once you’re back in your car or in the elevator.After: Work While It’s Fresh 
After the interview is over, fill in your notes immediately. It’s easy to forget many of the interview’s details once a few days go by. For telephone interviews, either type or handwrite your notes. Develop your own system of abbreviations, especially for terms common to your industry.

If you’re concerned about catching all of the person’s quotes, find out if it’s ok to tape the interview. If you do use a tape recorder, take notes as well; this will give you a place to write down a follow-up question while the person continues to talk.

Also, be sure to set the counter on the recorder to “0” beforehand. When the person says something you know you’ll use, jot down where on the tape the quote occurs. This saves you from listening to the entire tape. Assure the person being taped that no on will hear the tape but you.

When you start to write the article, you’ll often think of additional questions. If this happens, make a quick call or send a quick email.

Once the article is written, send a copy for approval to the interviewee or his or her company. Usually, people won’t make extensive changes, but they invariably find would-be- embarrassing mistakes, such as misspelled names or incorrect phone numbers.

To assure future cooperation, follow up with a thank-you note and extra copies of the newsletter. If a company is profiled in a newsletter, they will often want extra copies for promotional purposes. 

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2009 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Banners, Business Stationery, Calendars, Christmas Cards, Leaflets and Brochures, News, Newsletters, Postcards. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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