Gaining trust in an interview
And this week's very relevant podcast topic
As freelance journalists, the one thing we rely on is for people to tell us their stories and provide their expertise on topics we know little or nothing about.
A key skill you develop over time is how to make people feel at ease, help them feel comfortable talking to you and earn the trust that you will do a good job with the information they give you.
For freelancers there is potentially another hurdle in there because we don’t have the cache of the staff job, reputation and email address, etc, that might immediately begin to instill that trust.
So here are our top tips for winning the confidence of an interviewee to get them to agree to an interview in the first place and then get the most out of it when you do speak to them. We also asked our Facebook community for their advice and as always they did not disappoint.
1. Be clear who you are
It may go without saying that you need to be honest and up front with everyone you speak to in your role as a journalist about who you are, who you are working for and so on. But for the freelance journalist, you also need to build your own professional and trusted brand. Anyone who searches your name should be able to find out who you are, what you have written or produced, who you have worked for. Ideally have a website showcasing your work and including testimonials. Present yourself professionally across all the usual platforms, including things like LinkedIn, so people can easily be reassured you are who you say you are.
2. Talk about the process
Most people will not have a clue about the finer details of how the journalism process works from commission to publication. Are you working for a specific outlet or have yet to pitch your idea? How long will the interview take, will they see it before it goes to press, how much are you writing, do you need photos? If you act as a guide taking them through the process, the interviewee will be much more at ease because they know what to expect. There will also be circumstances where you need to prepare them for their ‘story’ to be public and make sure they understand what that means.
3. Start small
Introduce yourself properly again and do a bit of small talk, ask them how they are? Likewise don’t go in with your biggest, most difficult or challenging to answer questions first. Build up and allow them to ease into the interview. Perhaps you have something in common you can talk about - a hobby or interest or place you grew up or have visited. You won’t need this for every interview but its a good thing to fall back on if they seem quiet or nervous.
4. Get a charity on your side
Some topics, especially in things like health reporting, can be very sensitive to talk about or difficult to find the right person. Making use of charities or other organisations who specialise in the area can be very useful to find people who are willing to speak and have been already prepared about what that might entail. The interviewee may also then feel reassured that you are journalist they can trust by having the charity involved in the process.
5. Be flexible
As far as possible and within your deadlines be flexible about when and how you speak to the person you wish to interview. Most of the time, they are doing you a favour speaking to you about this topic and the least you can do is be polite and accommodating as to when you chat. That also goes for the mode because they might prefer a video call while you just want to chat on the phone, but your job is to make it easy for them to chat to you. We all know that email is the worst way to do an interview but sometimes it’s the only way and other times you can start off that way to build trust before moving to speak on the phone at a later date. Likewise once you have organised an interview make sure you actually turn up and are on time.
6. Answer their concerns
Don’t dismiss any questions they may have or worries about speaking publicly or being interviewed because what is an everyday normal interaction for you may be completely outside their comfort zone. Sometimes all it takes is an honest answer to the query they have to put their mind at rest. We refer you back to our previous newsletter on navigating copy approval as a good example of this.
This week’s podcast
As if by magic this week’s podcast episode is very relevant as we talk about trust in journalism, why it's important and what you can do as a freelance journalist to gain it.
We talk with guests Steve Nowottny, editor at FullFact, who discusses how his work exposes and counters the harm false information can cause, and Jennifer Sizeland, a UK-based freelance journalist, who talks to us about how journalists can build trust with their sources. Click below to listen or find us in all the usual podcast places!
Triumph of the week
Erm taking a week-long break of course!
That feeling when
You know in your gut that something is a story but getting it to stand up is another thing entirely.
We love to hear your feedback on everything we do, so feel free to drop us an email anytime at freelancingforjournalists@gmail.com
Bye for now!
