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Quoting With Confidence by Paula Whitacre
Posted on: Mon, 25 May 2009 12:24:00 +0000
If you have ever interviewed the head of your company, a researcher, or other VIP or technical expert, you know that figuring out what to do with what they say can be challenging. How can you use those great quotes you dutifully wrote down or recorded (more about that later) during an interview?
Sparingly. Like a good spice, they enhance in small amount but overwhelm when added too liberally.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Have a good reason to use a direct quote (in which you directly quote what the person has said, rather than paraphrase.) Two good reasons-- 1. Your source's comment is particularly colorful, insightful, poignant, or otherwise memorable, and the reader needs to see it in his or her own words; 2. Your source is a recognized expert, the CEO, a celebrity, or other VIP, and you need a few direct quotes to enhance the credibility of your piece and to show readers the style in which the VIP speaks.
Decide how you will revise (if at all) quotes. What, you say, change a quote? Blasphemous. I do not mean altering the meaning and certainly not making something up. But what about fixing a grammatical error? Or if two relevant points are interspersed with a side conversation about the weather? If your publication does not have a clear guideline, use your professional discretion. William Zinsser, in On Writing Well, counsels brevity and fair play in making adjustments. I consider that sound advice.
A related problem: the emailed quote. If the only way you can conduct an interview is via email, the result is often long paragraphs as responses. Do your source a favor and make any direct quotes sound like they came from the mouth of a human being. You can email the revised version back for approval. This, in turn, brings us to another sticky situation--when your source asks to vet your finished piece. Some publications have strict rules about this, which, of course, you will follow. Otherwise, consider sending the excerpt with the source's quotes, but not the whole article. An exception might be a technical topic outside your usual expertise that could benefit from the source's review.
Finally, note-taking or recording the interview? The situation dictates your choice. If you have only one chance to talk to your source, and you must capture his or her exact words, use a recorder. Ask permission, and practice using the machine without freaking out. If you can return to the source and you want more of a casual conversation, stick with notes
Paula Whitacre is principal of Full Circle Communications, a writing and editing firm. Get more tips about effective communications at http://www.fullcircle.org/. Follow on twitter @ptwhitacre.
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