Conducting an Interview and Writing a Profile Lesson

Introduction

A profile story is a portrait of a person in words. Profiles have an angle and a theme. A person's character and style are often revealed through the theme. It takes a deep understanding of a person's life to create a full image of who he or she is as a person. Be sure to use all five senses when you interview someone. For example, what is he or she wearing? What was the setting of the interview?
Good profiles also include quotes. You can even spice up your story with the words of family and friends. This will lend realism to your profile as well as increase reader interest. Quotes also will help to make the story more personal for the reader.

Here are a few basic quotation rules to remember:

Quotation Rules:
Rule #1 Never create, invent or manufacture quotations.
Rule #2 Choose quotes wisely.
Rule #3 Better to not use a quote than to use a poor quote.
Rule #4 Always attribute every statement and opinion
Rule #5 If a quote needs explaining then paraphrase instead.

Remember that this is a profile, not a biography. A biography includes a large amount of information usually telling many elements of a person's life. Profiles focus on a theme, but a biography is structured around factual information. Biographies are usually chronologically organized. Profiles are based on observations and interviews that are presented to be entertaining.

Review

Good interviews make for good stories. They provide insights into people and events. An interview is a special kind of conversation. It is a conversation between a journalist and a person who has facts or opinions which are likely to be newsworthy. News involves people.
Using an interview is the best way to have an accurate and thorough communication of ideas between you and the person from whom you're gathering information. You have control of the question order, and you can make sure that all the questions will be answered. Questions are such a fundamental part of an interview. Questions can relate to the central focus of your interview. Good questions probe for more complete answers.
Interviewees don't always have the luxury of going away and thinking about their responses or, even to some degree, censoring their responses. An interview allows you a unique opportunity to learn about others.

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