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Tina Lison wrote:
>
> * What advice would you give to a new Technical Writer about interviewing
> SMEs?
The single best advice I could give is to borrow books about interview
techniques from journalism classes. I do both tech-writing and
journalism, and I can vouch for the fact that interviewing is much the
same in both fields. The main difference is that, in journalism, those
being interviewed want to be there, and are nervous about bad publicity
if they don't cooperate :-)
Another suggestion: learn what you can before the interview, but
**never** pretend to know something that you don't. If you lie about
your knowledge, you'll have a harder time piecing together what you hear
in the interview, and you'll be distracted by trying to keep your story
straight. Moreover, if you're found out, you risk losing your chance of
being respected by the person you're working with- or by any of the
person's colleagues. Far better to admit ignorance and focus on trying
to ask intelligent questions.
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com
"They say you get used to a war
But that doesn't mean that the war isn't on."
-Geoff Pearson, "If They Come in the Morning"
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