The interview process in writing white papers has some interesting parallels in newspaper journalism—beginning with the all-important needs assessment. So I think it helps to go back to newspaper basics when conducting that first call.

Just the facts, M’am…

When writing for a newspaper, you learn to keep articles short and stick to the “Five W’s,” who, what, why, where, and when. Bare bones—that’s it. Editors have only just so much space in which to cram those pesky words, so journalists learn quickly to keep interview questions to the point. But that can be easier said than done, both in journalism and writing white papers.

When interviewing several people at once for a white paper needs assessment, for instance, sticking to “just the facts” can become quite a challenge—especially when the project stakeholders are excited about their “story.”

That’s why it’s really important to stick to your outline when conducting that first interview and take charge of the process.

What does “taking charge of the process” mean?

It doesn’t mean throwing your weight around, but I think it requires letting the interviewees know up front what is required in this call, and emphasizing that there are only a few things you’re looking for during this conversation: describing the ideal reader in detail, working out a high-level overall objective of the piece, and filling in just enough information to bang out a basic outline of the project. That’s it.

As with any interview process, it can be all too easy to let the conversation get off topic. Everyone’s eager to make their say, and if three or four people are on the call and you only have an hour, reigning in enthusiasm can be tricky!

In working closely with Michael Stelzner, I’ve learned a few tips for keeping the needs assessment on track:

• Stick to the plan: Go over the objectives of the call first and clearly state what you want to accomplish in this time frame, and also what you’ll be doing in subsequent calls. Have your questions (and variations of those questions) ready, so you can gently steer the conversation in the right direction.

• Be a project (reader) advocate: Your role is to facilitate the process of bringing the project to life—and to do that you need to constantly be thinking like the intended target—and focusing the conversation back to the intended reader’s perspective.

• Keep an eye on the clock: It may help to allot so-many-minutes to each segment of your outline and have a large clock (the kind with hands) in front of you to keep you subliminally on track as you take notes.

• Don’t be afraid to interrupt: If one of your interviewees begins to drift, it’s not rude to gently interrupt and bring that person back into focus. This may happen quite a bit, depending on their role, but letting them know why you need to stick to the facts can help. Remind them that this call is a high-level overview—detail will be fleshed out in subsequent calls.

Although these tips may sound pretty basic (particularly if you’re a journalist), reviewing never hurts.  Stripping down to those bare essentials may seem simple, but it most likely won’t be easy—especially if you have several stakeholders involved in the process.

I’m sure some of my writing colleagues out there have some more helpful ideas on how they conduct needs assessment (and other) interviews. Care to share?

About the Author: Apryl Parcher is Michael A. Stelzner’s apprentice. You can learn more about her at www.aparcher.com.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 8:16 am and is filed under Writing White Papers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.