Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - tips on writing news cues/questions for interviews.

BigBen · 03-29-2005, 11:25 AM

Know the story.

Research, Research, Research.

I can tell in 5 seconds if someone has done their backstory. If you ask during the interview about the basics, you lose the credibility of the person interviewed.

Of course the 5 W's. The cool thing is if you can get the subject to say it so you don't have to. More powerful in the viewers head.

Just come out and ask "Can you give me the 5 w's?" or if there is a communication barrier, lay it out for them: What Happened? Why? What did YOU DO exactly?

The STAR principle is good:
Situation - context
Task - What was supposed to happen
Action - What actually happened
Result - Was there luck involved? Careful planning? Why?

The STAR principle is good for a story that could have happened to anybody, but some crazy shit happened instead.

The 5 W's are good for a human interest thing, like why this person deserves an award.

Are you a good story teller? Do you see a story in everything?

Any question that can be answered in one word is a dud. Kill it.

Lastly, having an hour of good stuff is useless if the producer only wanted a soundbite. Tell your subject how much time you think the story will get. I answer questions differently depending on the timeframe. It is also easier for the subject to complain that you took them out of context if you sit them down for a half hour and only use 30 seconds. At the end of a long one, I finish off by saying, "If there is one thing you want to get across, in 1 sentence, what would you say?" Then if they spout off for 5 minutes you know you have a dumbass on your hands. Smart people get to the point and stay there.

Did this help in any way?

Oh, one last thing. Make sure you are talking to the right person. Why talk to the manager when you can get the president? Conversely, why talk to the president of the company if it was the person on the assembly line who was there when it actually happened? Knowing who is important comes with research, which you will always be perfect at.

03-29-2005, 11:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
BigBen Comedian Location: Use the search button	Know the story. Research, Research, Research. I can tell in 5 seconds if someone has done their backstory. If you ask during the interview about the basics, you lose the credibility of the person interviewed. Of course the 5 W's. The cool thing is if you can get the subject to say it so you don't have to. More powerful in the viewers head. Just come out and ask "Can you give me the 5 w's?" or if there is a communication barrier, lay it out for them: What Happened? Why? What did YOU DO exactly? The STAR principle is good: Situation - context Task - What was supposed to happen Action - What actually happened Result - Was there luck involved? Careful planning? Why? The STAR principle is good for a story that could have happened to anybody, but some crazy shit happened instead. The 5 W's are good for a human interest thing, like why this person deserves an award. Are you a good story teller? Do you see a story in everything? Any question that can be answered in one word is a dud. Kill it. Lastly, having an hour of good stuff is useless if the producer only wanted a soundbite. Tell your subject how much time you think the story will get. I answer questions differently depending on the timeframe. It is also easier for the subject to complain that you took them out of context if you sit them down for a half hour and only use 30 seconds. At the end of a long one, I finish off by saying, "If there is one thing you want to get across, in 1 sentence, what would you say?" Then if they spout off for 5 minutes you know you have a dumbass on your hands. Smart people get to the point and stay there. Did this help in any way? Oh, one last thing. Make sure you are talking to the right person. Why talk to the manager when you can get the president? Conversely, why talk to the president of the company if it was the person on the assembly line who was there when it actually happened? Knowing who is important comes with research, which you will always be perfect at. __________________ 3.141592654 Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.