Conduct an Interview Like a Journalist

Interviewing is one of the most effective ways to add depth, expertise, and precision to your writing. Interviews, like all things writing related, are both an art and a science, and it involves both connecting with people at a personal level and asking questions that elicit information, sometimes information they don't particularly want you to know.

Whether you are a novelist trying to add specificity and depth to your story, an aspiring journalist tackling information gathering for the first time, or a blogger trying to build traffic, you'll need to get high quality information and stories from experts.

Journalist Interview

Photo by Rabble Radio

6 Steps to Better Interviewing

This convenient tutorial will be delivered to your email inbox every week in manageable chunks. Not only will we cover big picture concerns such as why you should do interviews for your blog, novel, or article, it will also give you the tools and even experience you need to feel confident that you can interview anyone. You'll also get links to helpful resources and professional services. Here are the topics we'll cover:

Expert Advice

These lessons contain advice from six different experts in journalism, blogging, and creative writing, including Porter Anderson (@porter_anderson), a twenty-eight year veteran of journalism and former writer for CNN and the Village Voice, Jeff Goins, Tor Constantino, and Andrea Cumbo.

These experts have interviewed public figures from Sting to Seth Godin to George H.W. Bush. Even experts at interviewing will glean great techniques from them.

Training for Bloggers

Interviewing well-known figures is one of the best ways to build authority (not to mention traffic) for your blog. However, most bloggers struggle with interviewing. This tutorial will give you the tools and confidence you need to reach out to people you wouldn't have dared talk to before.

Boost Your Confidence

After going through this course, one writer reached out to Jeff Evans, host of the popular ABC show, Expedition: Impossible. I dare you to do better!