Pre-Interviewing

The pre-interview is a conversation with someone who is relevant to your story. This will help student journalists identify the beginning, middle, and end of their story, create a shot list for b-roll, and figure out the other perspectives necessary for the story to be accurate, fair, and newsworthy. Use these slides to walk your students through the research and preparation for a pre-interview.

The first step to a successful interview is research. Use the slides to walk through the research strategies to learn about your interview subject(s). Key points:

• If you have access, look at all of their social media for the past few months.
• Google their name, check LinkedIn (a popular career website) and local news sites.
• If possible, watch videos to see how comfortable they are being interviewed and speaking in front of the camera.
• Begin to learn their story and gather strong details that would make your story stronger.

Even in the pre-interview, which is informal, practice actively listening, writing down the answers, and reacting appropriately to what the other person says. Remind students that the pre-interview is a form of research. They are asking for details and should avoid yes or no questions.

Useful ways to start questions include:

• “Describe...”
• “Tell me...”
• “Identify...”
• “Explain..."
• “Help me understand...”

Pre-interviews should be conducted on the phone or video call. One of the hardest parts of pre-interviewing can be reaching out to people you have never met before or otherwise known as cold calling. Talk with students about any reservations they might be having.

• Students can use this template: “Hi, my name is _______, I’m a _____ student at ______ School and I’m doing a story about ___________ for the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs program. I’m hoping to talk with a professor at the university about ___________. Could you please suggest some experts I could learn from? Here is my contact information, as well as my teacher's. Thank you so much for your time.”

If students are nervous about writing down the answers when they’re talking to their potential interview subject, they can ask to record the conversation.

If the pre-interview went well and your student thinks the person will be great in their story, arrange to record an interview. This could be done in person or virtually. Remind your students:

• A good way to prepare for the real interview is to recap what you learned from the pre-interview to a friend or family member. What was the most memorable part?
• Write down the details you will need them to repeat to get the most compelling information.
• What more do you want to know? What are the follow-up questions you have now?

Ask students: What did you learn from working on this project? What did you like best about it? What did you dislike and why?

Ask students: How might interviewing skills be useful in your life right now? In the future?

• What is the purpose of a pre-interview?
• What is a follow-up question and why would you use one?