Sometimes, it's the questions we ask that cut us off. Learn to ask the right questions and build a conversation instead of grabbing a quote.

1. Asking Questions
that Begin Conversations
Lizabeth A. Walsh, MJE

2. Standard Questions
Our BASIC question set:
Who
What
When
Where
Why
How
Has more than one question per starter.
Brainstorm multiple questions for each one.

3. Who?
 Who planned it?
 Who attended?
 Who participated?
 Who watched?
 Who didn’t attend?
 Who else can I talk to?

4. What?
 What was the event?
 What did people do to plan it?
 What was the result?
 What happened while it went on?
 What is the history of this event?

5. When?
 When was the event?
 When did people plan it?
 When did people hear about it?
 When did things start rolling?
 When did it end?

6. Where?
 Where was the event?
 Where did people plan it?
 Where else did things happen?

7. Why?
 Why did people hold the event?
 Why did people like it?
 Why did people not like it?
 Why was it important to tell this story?

8. How?
 How do I spell your full name?
 How did the event get planned?
 How did people get involved?
 How did people feel about it?
 How did everything come together?
 How was the turnout?
 How much money did it cost/was made?

9. Beyond the Standard
Too often, we focus on “expected” questions.
Who What When Where Why How
and while we gather this information, we forget all
about finding the STORY these answers won’t tell us
SO WHAT? WHO CARES? WHAT’S THIS FOR?

10. Inspiration:
Interviewing stuff
 Pull out any random personal item.
 Set it on the desk.
 Create a conversation with it- ask it questions
about you. Have it answer you.
 Write down its answers.
 Share your Q&A with your small group.

11. EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY…
 Pick more items to get a more balanced picture.
 Create a spread, story, quick read, info box about you from
the viewpoint of your personal item.
 Brainstorm how to put together all the materials from your
group’s interviews in a single spread-
 What gets the dominant?
 What gets into the story?
 What makes it into a sidebar? Think about 3 different kinds
of alt copy treatments.
 What might get cut because it’s less interesting to readers?

12. We want
Facts, Figures, Feelings
 Facts- the details answered by the 5 Ws
and H
 Figures-statistics, percentages, numbers
(also come from 5 Ws and H)
 Feelings-
come from people telling stories
and sharing their perspectives

13. Facts & Figures
 Come from research and from initial
questions that allow subject to warm up to
you and start opening up
 Come from a variety of sources to make
sure they are accurate
 Are reserved for transitions and sentences
the reporter will write or for alternative
coverage modules

14. Feelings
 Come from letting people tell you their
stories.
 You get these by using a gentle command:
 TELL ME about…
 SHARE WITH ME what it was like when…
 Instead of sticking to the prepared script,
listen for cues that can lead you into a great
story, and follow them.

15. Note taking & recording
 Accuracy, Accuracy, Accuracy
 Askif it’s okay to record to be as accurate
as possible- but don’t rely on it
 Considerbringing a secondary writer, so
you can converse instead of take notes
 Verify all quoted material before you leave
 Ask for a follow up check

16. Now that we’ve got all this stuff,
what do we do with it?
•Color coordinate info.
•Facts are yellow
•Figures are blue
•Feelings are pink
•Start sorting what you want to use where.
•Headline ideas
•Subheadline summaries
•Story transitions
•Feelings for depth and personality
•Sidebar material

17. Revisit the stuff interviews
 Triangles for facts
 Squares for figures
 Circles for feelings
 Now determine what might be placed where on
a spread… it’s all about thinking carefully when
crafting the interview- if you’d thought about
FFF, what would you have done differently?

18. Practice…
•Take a few of the stories from last year.
•Write a list of questions the reporter asked.
•Now write what he/she didn’t ask, but should
have asked.
•K-W-L sheets are a good way to build better
question sets and evaluate the effectiveness of
young reporters.
•Now, I’m serious… practice.
•Interview someone in here for a story on camp.

20. Videos we watched
http://flinthillswriter.blogspot.com/2011/08/bad-
robot-interview.html
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-
18563_162-6885521.html

21. All materials presented…
 Remain the property and copyright of the various
owners of the original works.
 These yearbook samples were presented at BALFOUR
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customers.
 Please do not alter these presentations.
 Use of these shows is intended only for individual
adviser-to-staff classroom teaching, not for publication
or reproduction in any form for any type of
presentation at a conference, camp, convention, or
gathering of multiple schools’ staffs.