Seven Tips for Writing Phone Interviews

The phone interview is, for many writers, the perfect balance between the face-to-face interview and the e-mail interview. It provides the anonymity you would find with e-mail as well as the direct conversation offered by face-to-face interviews. You don't have to actually meet your subject, but you can ask questions for clarification and comment on his or her mannerisms and speech.

1. Write Your Questions Beforehand

Start thinking about the questions you want to ask during your phone interview well before the actual time and date. Research the individual you'll be interviewing and get a feel for what readers might want to know about him or her. If the interviewee is a celebrity or prominent business person, research other interviews he or she has given and come up with new questions to which you'd like the answer.

2. Request a Convenient Time

Many times, you'll find that the subject of your phone interview has a busy schedule, so you'll need to offer several different choices for times and dates. Try to work with your subject as much as possible and remain flexible if he or she must reschedule. Remember that he or she is basically doing you a favor.

3. Use Recording Equipment

It is virtually impossible to write down everything that the subject of your interview says while you're on the phone. Holding the telephone, listening to the answers and scribbling furiously is really not an option. If you can' afford to purchase expensive recording equipment, just put the telephone on "Speaker" mode and use a hand-held video recording device.

4. Greet the Subject Professionally

When you call your phone interview subject, greet him or her professionally and make small-talk for a few minutes to bring him or her into the interview questions. It isn't polite to just start firing questions, and your subject will be ill-at-ease. Instead, be friendly and professional to ensure that you get the answers you need.

5. Make Sure You Can Hear

It might be embarrassing, but if you can't hear the subject of your phone interview, you'll have to fiddle with the volume on your phone or ask him or her to speak up. If you can't hear what's being said, your recording equipment probably won't pick it up.

6. Offer to E-Mail a Transcript

Before you start asking questions, you might want to offer to e-mail the subject a transcript of the phone interview before you publish it. This will put the subject at ease and he will know that he has the benefit of seeing his answers before they're in print. That way, he can change or clarify anything that he doesn't like.

7. Thank the Subject

When you are finished with your phone interview, thank him for his time and ask if there's anything else he would like to add. Some interview subjects will have something they want to say as a final word, while others will not. Either way, show gratitude and re-emphasize that he will see a transcript before the interview is published.

It might take a few tries before you get the hang of phone interviews, but remember that practice will get you closer and closer to perfect. If you are really nervous, try conducting a practice telephone interview with a friend or family member to get you over the jitters and to see how the process will work.