Profile Writing -- The Conversation

Behind every great profile there was a great conversation.

Want to write a living, breathing piece? Follow these rules:

1) Do your research, even if it's just a Google search.

2) Talk about the weather. Open the interview with small talk...It will naturally lead you to your first question. But be warned -- some people don't do small talk. Be ready for that and adjust.

3) Never, ever ask the tough stuff right away. I usually tell the subject that we are going to start with "housekeeping"(age, preferred published name, etc.), and then we'll get to the "fun stuff." Just ask a few housekeeping questions, though: Their time is precious, and the rest will come naturally. You're just trying to warm them up -- and get a couple of things out of the way.

4) Let the interview be a conversation. I interviewed a new headmaster today and we started talking about her kids, when they were born, names. She mentioned in passing that she had been pregnant before. So, I let her go in that direction. It turned out that she lost a 3-week-old baby before she had her two children who are alive. So I asked her: How do you parent differently because you lost a child? That's a priceless question that I wouldn't have had in my arsenal if I hadn't let her take the lead.

5)The tough stuff. About a year ago, I profiled a controversial politician who had riled entire factions. I let her lead for about 45 minutes of a 90-minute interview. Then I asked: "You've had some interesting times in your career, and I want to give you a chance to address them..." And I took her point-by-point through some of the bigger happenings. If I had started the interview with those questions, there would have been no interview.

6) Make clear that you will need to follow up with them after you've finished reporting. Invariably something will be said that needs to be addressed.

If you connected with your subject, the auxiliary sources will connect, too. They call each other, you know.