Bob Kaplitz: Bob, you make your interview subjects open up so readily.  What’s the most important advice you can give reporters, photographers, and the new breed of multimedia journalists? 

Bob Dotson:  

As a young reporter, I once showed up late to a Governor’s news conference and begged the Governor to stay and answer just one more question.  The Gov, up for re-election, obliged.  I focused up and said, “Go ahead, Governor, answer a question.”

        “What question?”

        “Well, I don’t know.  Didn’t you just have a news conference?”

        “Yes.”

        “Did they ask a lot of questions?”

        “Of course.”

        “Well, pick one out and give me eight seconds!”

        And, you know — he did.

                    

Most people you interview cannot do that, so the most important thing you can do is make them forget about your camera and lights.  Put them at ease, so they’ll feel comfortable enough to tell you what you need to know.  Talk about their hobbies, not your equipment.  Make the technical stuff seem no big deal.  If they’re nervous (and who isn’t?) tell a funny story about your struggles with all this.  If someone is working in a flower garden, start by asking a questions about the flowers and then gradually bring them around to the reason you are there. 

 

I use silence to get better answer more quickly.  People nearly always answer questions in three parts.  First they answer what they think you’ve asked.  Then, they explain in more detail.   If you don’t jump right in with another question, if you let the silence between you build, they figure you don’t yet understand and make an extra effort to explain their thoughts more concisely.

 

Often, they make their point more passionately and precisely the third time.Don’t settle for clichés:    A tornado victim I once interviewed gave me three answers to a question I asked:  “The storm sounded like a freight train … we hid in the closet … we’re going to rebuild.” 

 

But the sound bite I used bubbled up after a bit of silence built up between us.  He pulled a hunk of pink goo out of the rubble, a shattered set of dentures, and announced “Well, the tornado got my teeth, but it didn’t get me!” 

 

A lot of seemingly ordinary people, standing in the shadows of well-known people — are terrific stories.

Bob Dotson
American Story with Bob Dotson
NBC News Today Show

Also see one of my favorite Bob Dotson stories:  Multimedia Minutes: What the Nation’s Most Recognized TV Storyteller Learned from this Video

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 11:29 pm and is filed under Multimedia Journalism, Power Tools for TV Journalists, TV news training, broadcast journalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.