How to Take Good Notes During a News Interview

You've landed an interview with a very important person. You want to make sure that when you write your news article about him, you will have quoted the person accurately. To do this, you have to know how to take very good notes, even if the person is prone to speaking incoherently or too quickly. Here are some tips on how to take good notes during a news interview.

Things You'll Need

• A thick reporter's notepage with white, lined paper and about half the width of an A4 sheet of paper
• At least two good ballpoint pens that do not leak
• A tape recorder

Instructions

Write fast but write clearly

1. Phrase your questions in a way that will allow the interviewee to give detailed answers he will have to think about beforehand. In other words, you don't want his answers to sound staged, which is, sadly, a common occurrence when boring or technical questions are asked. The more thoughtful the response, the more likely it will be said more slowly, which will allow you to retain full quotes. For example, instead of "What is your response to Person A's behavior?" you can ask "Tell me how Person A made you feel when she said this and what are some things you think she should know."

2. Learn some short-hand--make up your own ahead of time and stick to it during every interview you conduct. It can include abbreviations of common titles (such as "PM" for "prime minister") or you can simply choose to omit vowels (for instance, substitute "grtfl" for the word "grateful").

3. Learn to write really small, but large enough for you to be able to read it later. The smaller the writing, the more you can fit into one page in your notepad, and turning a page can cause you to miss valuable seconds of a quote that may turn out to be important later on.

4. Repeat the same question if you didn't understand an answer or if the interviewee said it too fast for you to be able to jot it down. A subtle way of asking them to do this is to say something like "I apologize, but just so that I am clear, so that I will be able to quote you accurately, can you please explain your position on the matter again?"

5. Ask a technical question you know the answer to already to stall for time. This allows you to jot down what you remembered from a former answer that you may need extra time to write or to underline a key quote you want to remind yourself is important.

6. Ask if you can tape record your interview, just in case. Tell the interviewee that you want to be extra careful that her quotes are accurate when you go over your notes.

Tips & Warnings

• Maintain as much eye contact as you can during your interview -- the interviewee will feel too alienated if you stare only at your notepad. A few glances every few seconds and a warm smile will help put your subject at ease, which may in turn make them more prone to giving you more interesting information.