Home
>
Article Writing
>
Writing an Interview Script

Writing an Interview Script

Gathering information from interviews is really simple. You ask the right questions and get the right answers.

But what do you think will happen if you go to the interview without doing any preliminary research?

Let's imagine you are going to interview a Chief Executive Office of an organisation. Your brief for the article includes facts like this person is the youngest in the history of the company to reach CEO. He also sits on the boards of several institutes -- Again, the youngest person to attain this level.

As the interviewer, you want to know as much as possible about the person, the company he works for and his special interests. You want to go into the interview as prepared as possible.

During the interview if you mention information about him or the company, he will know you have done your homework and you are interested in what he has to say.

This is how I would prepare:

Telephone the organisation and ask for the public relations department. If the company doesn't have one, ask for the name of their consultant.

Request a media pack. This usually contains the latest press releases, profile of the company, perhaps a brochure, web site address, and so on. Tell either the public relations department or the consultant you are going to write an article about the CEO. This admission will prompt the person you are dealing with to ensure you are given everything they have on the top man.

Check the web site and download anything that could be of interest.

Put the person's name into a search engine in case he has written any papers or articles that have been published. Download them.

Look up the web sites for the institutes that he has a special interest in.

Read through all the gathered material and write a statement on what the article is about and also write a brief/detailed outline of what you want to include and the direction you want the article to take.

Write a script containing all the questions you are going to ask at the interview. Even if you have managed to find some of the details elsewhere, still ask the questions. This is a good way of double-checking the facts.

Without the script you may not ask the right questions and the answers will not reveal the information you need to write a strong well-rounded article that meets the editor's brief.

barb clews is an award winning journalist with nearly 1,000 published articles to her credit. She has been a writer and editor for 15 years and is the author of "Article Writing for Freelancers" and "20 Tips to Increase Writing Skills" Visit barb clews to subscribe to "Words that Work", Barb's monthly ezine packed with tips for writers.

scheduled cleaning services Wilmette ...

In The News:

Identity theft recovery starts with securing bank accounts, freezing credit and enabling two-factor authentication within the first 24 hours.

Apple's $299 HomeView smart display uses facial recognition to personalize screens for up to six household members and show live security camera feeds.

Domonique DuBose spotted red flags when a man on Hinge with 85,000 followers and a blue checkmark claimed to be a San Francisco 49ers player.

Your phone's location data can expose visits to doctors, pharmacies and places of worship. The FTC took action against data brokers selling this data.

Hackers targeted Danfoss refrigerator controls across French supermarkets, forcing chains like Carrefour and Monoprix to discard massive food stocks.

iOS 27 finally lets iPhone Shared Albums store photos and videos at full resolution in iCloud, but new items count toward the owner's storage.

A fake Facebook Marketplace text scam uses your real name as the seller to trick you into replying, and Malwarebytes warns even one response helps.

The Pentagon data breach exposed 2.76 million Social Security numbers and military records, raising long-term identity theft concerns for veterans.

Kodiak AI plans to haul IKEA freight on Texas highways with no one in the cab, raising urgent cybersecurity and safety questions for drivers.

Apple Intelligence in iOS 27 adds Extend and Reframe tools to Photos, letting iPhones generate new background areas beyond your original borders.

Microsoft's X account was hijacked to promote a crypto pump-and-dump scheme, exposing its more than 13 million followers to a scam campaign.

Scammers can combine your name, phone number and address with data breach details to attempt SIM swaps, phishing and even identity theft schemes.

ChatGPT Work, Meta Muse and Gemini Spark can monitor flight prices, sort your email inbox and track important deadlines, but savvy users start small.

iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel each hide a built-in tool that turns a video frame into a separate photo without any screenshot needed.

Operation KillSwitch dismantled KillSec's ransomware infrastructure, but investigators say a 16-year-old allegedly ran the entire cybercrime operation.

The Fox News Artificial Intelligence newsletter covers where voters will decide on AI data center ballot measures and Jeff Bezos' tech vision.

Apple's Impersonation Risk Detection in iOS 27 can flag suspicious activity inside apps, but the setting is off by default and must be enabled.

Federal Election Commission records can expose your name, address, employer and donation history once contributions exceed the $200 threshold.

Cybersecurity expert Morgan Wright says human skepticism remains the strongest defense against AI-driven phishing scams and voice cloning fraud schemes.

iPhone, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy each handle security updates differently, and one screen saying "up to date" may not tell the whole story.

Deborah Del Mastro heard what sounded like her daughter's terrified voice on the phone, launching a five-hour virtual kidnapping scam ordeal.

Hotel TV privacy risks go beyond forgotten passwords when you sign into Netflix or other streaming apps on shared devices you don't control.

Apple's iOS 27 Visual Intelligence now lets your iPhone search objects directly on screen, but Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel have a head start.

x47.c Windows malware uses xAI's Grok to maintain persistence on infected PCs while stealing passwords, browser cookies and API keys from victims.

Frankie LaPenna fought three robots in a cage, including two modified EngineAI T800 humanoids that can kick with up to 850 pounds of force..