Whether you’re writing a news feature, producing a documentary, recording an audio interview, or creating a piece of multimedia journalism it is important that you find quality people to speak with. Often finding these quality talent, and convincing them to speak to you can be one of the hardest parts of the storytelling process.

Finding talent can be a daunting process especially if your new to the craft. Newcomers often don’t know where to look for interesting and informative people and can be timid when approaching those people for an interview.

So to help everyone in their quest to find better talent I have come up with five quick tips on places to find those important ‘hidden talent’.

1. Find authors who write on a topic

Authors are incredibly knowledgeable and interesting people. You will be able to get a feel for what they might talk about by reading some of their work. Once someone is a published author they are also a credible source as writing a book takes a considerable amount of time, thought, energy, and research. Many authors can also be very creative and eccentric people who will add colour, life, and variety to your project.

To get in contact with a published author look for websites and contact email addresses listed in their books. If they have them, write an email or leave a comment on their site. If they don’t then contact their agent to organise an interview. I guarantee you that many of them will be more then happy to speak with you.

2. Search university websites

Most universities have lists of all their key staff – lecturers, professors, researchers etc – available online. These lists can be invaluable for finding quality talent. Every one of the staff on a universities listing are experts in one field or another and most want to talk about what they do.

Journalists or storytellers can add a considerable amount of information and credibility to their stories by speaking with someone from a university. Look through university websites, identify some staff who will suit your story, and give them a call.

3. Find someone old

Sometimes there is nothing quite as interesting, informative, and exciting as speaking to the older generations. I’m talking about those who are past their prime but still have excellent stories to tell of the adventures they had in their youth.

You can find elderly people almost anywhere but you could try visiting an old peoples home and talking to some of the residents. Many of them will be more then happy to speak with you.

If you do find someone wise to speak to just be sure that you listen carefully to what they have to say. Their experience is life so they will have many important and valuable comments to make.

4. Check local noticeboards

Noticeboards are great for getting story ideas but are also great for finding talent who are the experts of a particular field in local communities.

You can find names of people who run everything from dance classes, to cooking lessons, to music classes, even flying or skydiving lessons.

Get their names and numbers off the board and give them a call. They will often be interesting people who will have a wealth of knowledge in their craft for you to tap into.

Another way to use noticeboards is to post a call for talent. If you ask for specific types of people you might end up with many different types of people to choose from, all who believe they have something to say on your topic.

5. Telephone directories

Your telephone directory can be an excellent place to find people to speak with. If your story requires an angle from a business owner then you can easily find a business which matches your needs. The majority of businesses you could want to speak with are listed in the telephone directory along with names and numbers for most people in your area.

Most telephone directory providers also have online versions which can save you a great deal of time and also allow you to search in other cities or states.

While this has not an exhaustive list it has served me well so far. The most important thing to remember is don’t be scared to call or talk to anyone for an interview. Often you will find that no matter how big a persons status in the community, people love talking about themselves. Use this fact to your advantage and you’re guaranteed to find great talent for your story.

If you have been keeping up with the news recently you will be aware that social media tools like Facebook and Twitter are the talk of the town. Not only are they great for connecting on a personal level but they can be extremely valuable for your multimedia and storytelling projects. By utilising your social network effectively you can direct significant traffic towards your projects. You can, if you know how, make your projects viral and ones which are talked about all over the Internet. But with so many different social media websites around it can be difficult to know how best to approach social media.

There are many resources online which can help you learn the best methods for using social media, and many tools to make your life easier. I have put together a very brief list of four sites which I think will really help you become a social media pro.

1. Twitip

Darren Rowse runs this great site (www.twitip.com) which focuses on teaching you how to make the most of Twitter. There is a lot of really helpful and useful information on this site and it is a must read for anyone looking seriously at using Twitter to drive traffic to their website. No matter what you want to find out about, there is probably an article on Twitip for you.

2. Hootsuite

This is one of my favourite social networking applications. Hootsuite (www.hootsuite.com) lets you manage several different social networks, Twitter, Facebook, etc.. all at once. There is also a great iPhone application and a bookmark button which allows you to post links directly one or all of your social networks. You also get fantastic statistics on who clicks on the links you share which can help you decide what suite your audience better.

3. Chris Brogan

Chris Brogan is one of the leading social networking experts. His website, www.chrisbrogan.com, is a wealth of great information that will help you not only build a large social networking presence but will help you grow a community of interested people. Not only does he have the website but Brogan also co-wrote a book, Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, which has received many good reviews. I guarantee that you will get some great information from him.

4. TweetDeck

TweetDeck is another great social networking tool which allows you to manage and connect to multiple social networking websites. Unlike Hootsuite which runs in your Internet browser, TweetDeck is a desktop application which runs on Adobe Air. Many of the top social networkers have often commented about using TweetDeck as their main social networking client. If you would like to do all your networking from one easy desktop tool then head to www.tweetdeck.com.

No matter what resource or application you find best for you, the important thing to remember with social media is to stick with it. Eventually the hard work will pay off and you will have a great list of followers who are interested in you and your projects. You will then be able to leverage this audience to make your projects more successful.

Have you ever walked around an art gallery, looked at all of the beautiful paintings, and stated out loud to the people around you ‘I really wish I could paint like that’? Or maybe you have been having dinner at a fancy restaurant and in the corner of the room was someone playing the piano beautifully and you say to your date ‘I wish I knew how to play like that’? Like painting and playing the piano, interviewing is a true art.

At face value, some people were born to ask questions and some were not. But don’t be discouraged, the art of of interviewing, like painting and piano, can be learned. Here are five tips to help you become a successful interviewer.

1. Do Your Research

Photo by helgasms!

It probably goes without saying that it is important for an interviewer to have done some research into a topic before conducting an interview, yet it happens all the time. I hate seeing interviewers who don’t know at least the basics of what they want to talk about. It makes you as an interviewer sound lazy, and wastes valuable interview time as your talent gives you a crash course in the topic.

You MUST do plenty of research into both the topic and your talent before you arrive at your interview. Not only is it important so you, as the interviewer, can look knowledgeable, but it will give you the confidence you need to conduct the interview and ask skillful questions. It is also a well known fact that people like to talk to others with similar interests, so if you can connect on even a basic knowledge level with your talent then you have already broken down a barrier between you.

Sometimes you may not know much about the person, especially if you are just finding out about their story. If this is the case try to spend some considerable time with them beforehand without any recording equipment. Doing this will help give you some background into the situation and help make your talent more comfortable with you around.

Your talent wants to feel like your taking an interest in them, so if you have taken the extra step to do some research on their field or their background they will want to open up more with you. If you remember to research thoroughly you are well on your way to interview success.

2. Be Prepared To Ask Questions

Photo by e-magic

Have you ever been watching 60 minutes and wondered how, in just a few minutes, the interviewer can get someone to open their soul? The secret is simple. Not only have the interviewers done research, but many interviews are planned and structured. Good interviews take careful preparation.

Preparation in this sense means to go through your research and come up with a list of questions which you want to ask. Write them down, read them, re-word them, group like questions, sequence them, and order them.

Sometimes it is great to start off an interview with a ‘bombshell’ type question, but what you lead with really depends on who your interviewing. A major sporting talent who has been in the news for sex scandals might expect a question like that to lead an interview, but if your interviewing anyone else, generally, it is good to start with some softening questions. These are the type which make the talent feel like they are in control of the interview and makes them comfortable. E.g ‘What’s your latest movie about?’ ‘How did you find working with this person again?’ Gradually work your way to the harder or more confronting questions. Interviewing is a process.

Planing and structure will help you feel ready to ask the questions, it will give you some direction, and should give you plenty of interesting questions to ask.

3. Go With The Flow

Photo by derekadk

What I mean by this is to be prepared to change your interview on the fly based on what your talent is saying. Too often people go into interviews with their questions prepared and only willing to ask the questions they have in front of them. Doing so makes the interview sound scripted.

The art of a successful interview is as much about making your interview sound natural when your asking questions as it is about the preparation. This means using your script as a guide to get you started and being prepared to ask other questions and mould your interview as you go.

If you have been ready to ask questions, and have gotten the first few softening questions out of the road, then sometimes people will start to reveal really interesting things about themselves which you had not known about. How could you possibly have planned for such things? These are the comments which will make your interview really interesting. Don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper.

Knowing how to defer from your script, go with the flow, and take an interview deeper, is what will separate the experienced interviewer from the inexperienced.

4. Open Your Ears

Photo by tanakawho

Do you want to know why Oprah is such a popular talk-show host? It’s not just about all her big gifts to the audience, though I’m sure those help. But it is because she has mastered probably the most important art of interviewing – the ability to listen and pay attention. She likes to take interest in the talent.

As an interviewer the worst thing you can do during an interview is to not listen to what your talent is saying. If you don’t listen carefully then you are at risk of receiving answers which start with the dreaded ‘like I said before’. You really don’t want this! It makes your talent feel unappreciated and undervalued. They have given you the valuable commodity of time, don’t annoy them by not paying attention.

If you have been given the privilege of an interview, listen and pay attention. It will make your talent feel like you care about them and what they have to say. They will also feel more comfortable around you and more likely to open up.

5. Stay In Control

Photo by Lee Jordan

This is a difficult one to work on and may take quite a bit of practice. Sometimes during an interview you may find your talent will start going off on tangents and talking about all manner of topics. While this can sometimes be good, most of the time it is important to know when and how to draw them back to what you really want to talk about.

Media personalities, politicians, sporting legends, will all have had media training. They know how to take control an interview so that they can get their PR message out. Your job is to keep them focused on your questions. It is important that you try to remain in control.

If your new to interviewing this can be difficult, it’s hard to know the right time to cut someone off. You have to give them a short leash. Much of the skill of controlling an interview is in knowing how to bring someone back to the topic. A comment like ‘getting back to what you were saying about….’ is a good and easy way to refocus your interview.

One of the best ways to learn interviewing skills is to watch some interviewers whom you really admire and see how they do it. Becoming a successful interviewer takes a lot of time, practice, preparation and hard work.

If you are ready to to put in the extra effort you can become a successful interviewer. Doing so will in turn make you more confident as a person and help your projects to be more dynamic.