Interview is Art

September 23rd, 2007 | Journalists, Media

It can be easy to screw up an interview. John Sawatsky trains ESPN staffers in the art of interviewing and says some of those considered the best in the business are making basic mistakes.

It all comes down to having a plan. To paraphrase Sawatsky:

Have a strategy. Use questions to build off questions to get more, to get your subject to go further than their normal cautious self would normally go

Any journalist, or journalism student, should know or have heard these simple rules. They’re not exactly Sawatsky’s rules, but very basically: don’t ask yes-or-no questions, keep questions short and avoid charged words, which can distract people.

via NPR

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