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After doing hundreds of interviews (mostly over the telephone) for magazine articles and books I’ve written, I’ve learned a few tricks and techniques that might help make your interviews more successful:

1. Research your subject and interviewee before your interview. When I interviewed Robert Kiyosaki, author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, for a magazine article, I did a ton of homework on him in advance, but I missed a few important aspects of his life. He was offended and I had to do some fancy footwork to regain his confidence and trust.



2. When you set up interviews, tell the interviewees how much time you will need. If they don’t have that much time, try to reschedule the interviews when they do. If that’s not possible, at least you will know in advance what your time restrictions are, and you can plan accordingly. The last thing you want is to be halfway through your question list, with some of the most important questions left to ask, and hear, “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I only scheduled 20 minutes for this interview. Do you have everything you need?”
3. After you’ve done your homework to prepare for an interview, write a list of questions to ask during the interview. Check these off as you ask them, but don’t be rigid. If the interview takes you in a different or unexpected direction, go with it and come back to your question list later. Additional questions will inevitably arise during an interview. That’s okay. Just add them to your question list on the fly.
4. Always thank the people you interview for their time. Do this before you begin the interview and again when you are finished. People like to be appreciated, and the people you interview are often taking valuable time out of their busy schedules to accommodate you.
5. Ask questions that require explanations. Asking “Do you enjoy being a multimillionaire?” will probably get you a perfunctory “Yes,” or “Of course,” and then silence. What are they supposed to say to such a question? But if you ask, “What do you like most about being a millionaire?” you’ll make the interviewee think and you’ll receive an answer that tells you something of interest.
6. Record your interview. Unless you type at superhuman speed, a recording will allow you to capture the actual, word-for-word statements. Using a lot of actual quotes will liven up your written piece and give readers a better feel for the person you’re interviewing. Keep the recording. You may need it after you’ve written the project if there’s a dispute over what was actually said. Recording to a microcassette recorder-transcriber is an excellent way to capture interviews. You can then transcribe the conversation using the transcriber and a foot pedal. Make sure, however, that you have a small gadget (approximately $30 at Radio Shack) that links your recorder directly into your phone line. Recording cell phone conversations is a newer science, and still a bit dicey. Using Skype to converse through your computer and software that will record those conversations is another option nowadays, but you must have a strong Internet connection to make a clear recording.

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There are many ways to be incomplete in your writing, ranging from unintentionally leaving out needed information to intentionally omitting important information.

What’s missing in the following statements?

Gary has requested a meeting at the Draper office this Thursday, April 15, for all sales reps. Bring last quarter’s reports.

The omission here is obvious: what time is the meeting? Try this one:

Our new pain reliever has been clinically tested to be effective on 89 percent of patients.

This message is incomplete in a dangerous way: The company did not want to admit that the other 11 percent of the patients who tried the pain reliever died.

One common and damaging mistake business writers make is forgetting to include a call to action. A call to action is any instruction that tells the readers what the writer wants them to do, such as “Call 1-800-100-1000 to place your order today!” All written pieces that have a persuasive purpose are incomplete without a call to action.

What’s wrong with the following offer?

We’re offering all employees a free coupon good for $20 off any dinner for two at Le Bistro Restaurant in the Midtown Mall. The coupon is good any day of the week from 6 p.m. to midnight. There is no expiration date. Don’t miss this free employee benefit!

Right. It’s incomplete – it doesn’t contain a call to action. It leaves the employees wondering how to get the coupons.

While we’re on the subject, make sure your call to action is clear, easy to follow and hard to miss. Don’t confuse your readers. Don’t make them jump through hoops to do what you want them to do. And don’t make them have to hunt for the call to action. Make it hard to miss and easy to figure out and do. If you don’t, they’ll likely give up and your piece will be wasted.

PS. Take your writing skills to a new level. Check out the real-world writing e-books now available for immediate download. Click here.

You can do a lot of things without focusing your mind on the task at hand. But writing is not one of those things. You can’t write successfully with only part of your mind. You have to concentrate. You have to focus. You have to be internally “centered.”

Always center yourself before doing any actual writing. It’s painful to attempt to write when your mind is diffused. It’s like trying to put a bunch of cats in a box. While you’re putting one in, the others are escaping.

To write well, you must be centered so you can focus on the job at hand and push other thoughts and distractions out of your mind. Look at the following photo….

Let’s say that the foreground leaves are the subject of your writing project (in a symbolic sense). From what you can see in the photo, could you write clearly and accurately about those leaves? No. Why? Because they are out of focus. When I took the photo, I focused on a point in space between the leaves in the foreground and the foliage in the background, making everything a little out of focus.

That’s how most of us are when we write. We’re not in focus. We’re not centered. Our phones are ringing. Other people’s phones are ringing. People are talking. People are coming and going within our space. E-mails are piling up. Few of us have the luxury of having our own soundproof writing room with a red, flashing sign outside our locked door that announces, “Writer at Work. Do Not Disturb!”

Look at the next photo….

Could you write clearly and accurately about the leaves now? Yes, because the foreground leaves are in sharp focus. You can see their tiny dots, veins and color variations. The background is blurred and does not compete for attention.

That’s what you have to do when you write. You must focus on what you’re writing and try to put the rest of the world in the blurred background where it won’t distract you.

To do that, you must center yourself within. But how can you do that when you’re surrounded by the noise and motion of your less-than-serene environment? Different people use different techniques to get centered. Here are a few of the more common and effective methods. Try them, but if you find other techniques that work better for you, use them.

Breathe deeply.

To breathe deeply, the sages say you should visualize inhaling each breath all the way down to your toes and pushing it completely out of your body through the top of your head. Do this powerfully for even just a few minutes and see how you feel.

Close your eyes.

Stop looking at everything happening around you for a few minutes. It will help you center yourself, especially if you focus your attention on your breathing.

Listen to unobtrusive music or “white noise.”

Random noise is distracting. Put on your headphones or insert your ear buds and replace the noise with music or a recording of natural sounds or “white noise.” These can mask out the commotion around you. However, make sure the music or sounds you choose are not distractions in themselves. (Stephen King listened to hard rock when he wrote, but he was Stephen King.) Stick with calm, mild music, waves rolling onto a beach or similar sounds.

Meditate.

People who have become proficient at meditation can sit in noisy, distracting environments, tune the world out and center themselves. A one- or two-minute meditation, properly done, can place you in an inner space that is conducive to writing.

Take a walk.

You’d be surprised by the number of writers who love to walk. They say the physical act of walking allows them to calm their minds and get centered. A quick, five-minute walk can do wonders in helping you calm down, focus and center yourself.

Focus on an object.

Look at something. Really look at something. It could be a blossom, a candle flame, a stone, a pen … any simple object. Tune everything else out. Think of nothing. Just look. If you do this intensely for even a minute, you will be surprised what will happen.

Count breaths.

Breathing – and the act of focusing on your breath – is a powerful meditation technique. Try this: sit with a straight back, close your eyes and breath very deeply, counting your breath cycles (a cycle is one inhale and one exhale). Start at 10 and work your way down to one. Do your best to think of nothing but the number of the breath you are taking. Don’t lose count. This gem of an exercise takes just a minute or two, but if you do it mindfully, you will feel wonderfully more centered when you are finished.

Special Note: Send Me Your Problems!

Some of you have asked if I could help you with specific writing issues. My answer is yes. Send me a comment with a piece of text you have written (nothing too long, please) and tell me what has you stumped or doesn’t seem right. I’ll do my best to get to the bottom of it and we’ll invite others to comment with their ideas or suggestions. Let’s make this a valuable, interactive learning experience. To contact me, click here.