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The first question to ask in any phone interview.

Nicole Laidler • June 16, 2020

Doing an interview by phone? Here’s the first question you need to ask.

Whether you’re a journalist interviewing a source for a story, a content creator interviewing a customer for a case study, or a copywriter interviewing a business owner to get the background for their website’s About Us page, when you’re conducting a phone interview you want to get the conversation off to a good start.

So, whether you’ve scheduled the call or are connecting on the fly, there’s one question you need to ask right off the bat:

Is this a good time to talk?

Why is this always the first question to ask?

Because if it’s not a good time to talk, I can pretty much guarantee that your interview will fall flat. You’ll hang up without the detailed information or the colourful quotes needed for a successful writing project.

Confirming that it’s a good time to talk shows you respect the person’s time, and it gives them a way out if they really are too busy to give you their full attention.

Most of the time the answer is a resounding “yes” and you’re off to the races.

Sometimes you’ll hear a pause. If you sense that the person on the other end of the phone may be preoccupied, offer to call back in 30 minutes.

Occasionally, you’ll get a “no” followed by a suggestion to try again at a later date.

Once I reached a source as they were on their way out the door to a funeral. They had completely forgotten about our call. Obviously, it was not a good time to talk and I asked if they’d like to reschedule for later that week or whether they’d like me to find another source. They suggested I find another source.

This brings me to another quick tip: Always leave a few days of wiggle room between your interview and your deadline. That way, you’ll always have time to come up with Plan B if an interview falls through.

Next week I’ll share the question I ask at the end of every interview.

Do you have a question about writing great copy? Ask in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer in a future post!

Nicole Laidler is a content creator, copywriter, and freelance reporter serving clients in London, Toronto and throughout Southwestern Ontario. She helps people grow their success, one word at a time.

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