Four Types of Interviews for Getting Powerful Quotes in Press Releases

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A powerful tool in any kind of writing is the expert quote. In press releases, quotes heighten credibility of the product you’re promoting. They not only add believability, direct quotes spark up a press release, driving home the pitch.

You can use indirect quotes and/or direct quotes. Indirect quotes are those you get from a written or spoken source not directly said to you. They are also called secondhand quotes. Direct quotes are those you get firsthand, by a one-on-one interview with the person.

The Person-to-Person Interview is where you actually meet body-to-body. The person-to-person interview offers such obvious advantages as eye contact, body language, voice modulation, tone, facial expressions and other personal interactions. Also, observing the person in his or her work place gives you the chance to understand more of his/her expertise. Another plus is you have free hands to take notes.

The disadvantage of the person-to-person interview is that it takes considerably more time. Factors that add time are necessary travel to and from wherever you meet as well as the getting settled-in-and-comfortable-time it takes when meeting with someone in person. It’s also harder to break away in person than over the telephone. (“Oops, there’s my other line; my assistant just summoned me to accounting; I’m having a meeting here in five minutes,” etc.) are all ready made breakaways in telephone communication. Unless you have a headset or a very superior speakerphone that doesn’t sound like you’re speaking in a cave, you don’t have free hands to take notes.

With the Telephone Interview, the main advantage is the time factor. You don’t have to travel; you can get right to the point after brief salutations and you can record the conversation on the answering machine. You’re more likely to interview two or three experts by phone because it’s not as time-consuming as meeting in person.

A suggested method of setting up a phone interview is to call for an appointment just as you would for a personal interview. That way the interviewee can set a convenient time and place for the phone call. There’s apt to be fewer interruptions, also. Some interviewers go so far as to write out a ‘script’ complete with questions for the interviewee to review ahead of time. This can be done with the personal interview as well as the written interview.

The Written Interview is where you send out a form with your questions, requesting answers from the interviewee, to be mailed back to you. Emailing interview questions is also a quick and easy method of getting direct quotes from the experts. This is not as effective, however, because not everybody answers email with the same consistency as they do regular mail or phone calls.

The Spontaneous Interview is where you approach an expert anywhere you happen to spot him or her and simply ask the questions. Of course, we recommend you do this with diplomacy and ask first, not just blurt out the questions. Sometimes spontaneous meetings offer opportunities for informal interviews that you just can’t turn down. If you are fortunate enough to be acquainted with the person, you can ease questions into the conversation then ask afterward if you may quote him or her.