Tip #10 Talk To Strangers

In my street we have had two postmen in recent years. Sam was older than Simon. My guess is that Simon has probably spent more time in education than Sam. They were both polite and efficient and we have never had any complaints. The difference is that Sam loved to chat to everyone in the street and to know what was going on, while Simon was more shy and worked his way down the road with his iPod headphones plugged into his ears. There may be nothing to choose between them as postmen, but I know who would make the better reporter.

There is no doubt that the iPod is a wonderful invention and I’m amazed by how much the iPhone can do, but new technology will never replace traditional people skills and when you are a hunter-gatherer looking for news, ear plugs can be a distraction.

In the most extreme manifestation of social withdrawal coupled with technological obsession, Japanese psychiatrists have identified cases of hikikomori, where teenagers will retreat to their bedrooms for years at a time. That’s not a great place to launch your career as a reporter.

Journalists can find out what is going on by using Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites, but this must be coupled with a deep-seated desire to mix with people in person.

Sam the postman certainly has this desire and he also has another advantage over many of us and that is in the way he travels. Sam spends most of his working day either walking or riding his bike. You see far more on foot, or on a bike, than you do cocooned in a car, or trapped in a tube train, and you have more opportunities to meet fellow travellers and to find out what they are up to.

Of course walking takes more time and so does stopping to chat to people. However, if you build in the extra time in your day and you learn to make small talk with strangers, you will quickly find that chatter is every bit as effective as Twitter and all the other so-called social media sites put together.

Tell people you are a journalist, get into the habit of carrying a calling card you can hand out to them and give them the time of day when you see them and you will find that slowly, but surely, the man in the newsagent, or the woman in the park will start to call you and let you know what’s going on.

The writer Bill Bryson started his  journalism career at the Daily Echo in Bournemouth, where Up To Speed is based today. His witty travel writing is based on the people he meets and the observations he makes about the world he travels through. His best-selling book Notes From A Small Island is a wonderful portrait of Britain in the mid-90s and it has sold over 1.5 million copies. Bryson’s notes were all made while travelling around the country on foot or by public transport. And he spent a great deal of that time, not in solitary reflection, but talking to strangers.

Why not take a leaf out of his book, and follow in his footsteps.

Tip #7 Turn On The Charm

When you first tell people you are a journalist you are likely to get one of two reactions – sudden interest in your exciting job, or, more often, a guarded suspicion that you are someone who is not to be trusted.

So, when you set about digging up a story, it is not always going to be easy. People will not always want to co-operate. They may be too busy, they may be distrustful and they may be genuinely worried that talking to you could cost them their jobs or their reputations.

Reporters have strategies for dealing with this. They quickly develop a thick skin and realise that there is no point in taking rebuffs personally. If the interview is important they also have to find ways to persuade people to talk to them.

Journalists are sometimes referred to as “hard-nosed hacks”. This gives the impression that they regularly bully or cajole reluctant interviewees into speaking to them. However, good reporters tend to find that charm and persistence produce much better results than menace and bluster.

Good reporters have an ability to put people at their ease, to soften them up, and to explain how publication of a story can benefit an interviewee and other people with similar experiences to that interviewee.

This may sound easy in theory, but difficult, or impossible, in practice. However, there are some simple rules of thumb, which can help to secure interviews.

• Find out the person’s name, use it repeatedly in conversation and ensure you spell it correctly. We all love the sound of our own name.
• Treat interviewees with deference and respect. You may not personally have a huge amount of respect for district councillor Joan Smith, but in your professional dealings with her, always remember to call her, “Councillor Smith”. However much she hides behind a veil of false modesty, the chances are Mrs Smith feels immensely proud of being a councillor. We all like to feel important.
• Treat every one you meet professionally in the same way. If you arrive at a company headquarters prepared to charm the boss, but treat the receptionist like dirt, you won’t get very far. Very often the receptionist can be the toughest obstacle you have to overcome in reaching that important person. Important people talk to their staff and may well hear how you behave when you are dealing with people who work for them. We all deserve respect.
• When you make an appointment to meet someone, make sure you are on time. You are in the business of persuading people to lend you some of their valuable time and so don’t waste their time. We all value our time.
• It may sound like a piece of advice your Mother would give you in primary school, but look smart and professional. First impressions really are important. You have to win the trust and confidence of your interviewees if you want them to share information or opinions with you. We all make snap judgements about people based on their appearance.
• And finally, remember that all of the above can be achieved if you meet someone in person, some of the above will work if you are good on the phone and none of the above can be achieved by email.

So, if you are chasing interviews, hit the road or pick up the phone, but only send an email when you are asked to and only then after you have asked for a phone or face-to-face interview first.