How to record white paper interviews
by Gordon Graham, That White Paper Guy
I always thought I could take great notes.
After all, I worked for years as a journalist.
But the first time I recorded an interview, I was humbled: My notes were all over the place?!
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Oh, I would catch the speaker's meaning. And no one ever accused me of misquoting them. But when I compared my notes with the actual phrasing from my source, I was amazed at the difference. |
That's when I decided to record all my white paper interviews.
When I tell other writers that, they usually ask how I do it. Well, I've tried a lot of different gear, and here are my collected tips on recording interviews.
Recording interviews in person
This has gotten easier over the years. A digital minirecorder of any kind will suffice for an in-person interview.
Hint: Get one that saves MP3s and recharges via USB.
I just pull out the recorder, put it on the table, and ask if I may record our conversation, "to make sure I get all the details right."
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I've never had a source say no. I use a Philips VoiceTracer 660 that I got from Staples several years ago. It's about the size of a flat pack of gum, and it holds up to 139.5 hours in 99 files. My model has now been replaced by others that hold more hours and have batteries you can recharge via USB, starting under $100. Hint: Always use the best quality audio settings. So what if the files are larger? |
Recording interviews from a landline
This is where you need a second piece of gear, called a QuickTap. It plugs in between the telephone handset and the microphone connector of your recorder.
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I heard about this device from a radio producer who teaches people how to do podcasts. He told me the QuickTap filters out noise and balances the volume between the remote and local voices. |
Without it, your recordings can be quite noisy and hard to understand when you play them back.
A QuickTap costs $59 and is well worth it. More on the QuickTap here.
Hint: Forget that $5 suction cup thing that fits on the handset or any other cheap little gizmos from Radio Shack. Recordings made with these will be very iffy... not what you want when you're working on a white paper.
And remember: Always ask for permission to record a phone call. The law does not demand this in every state, but it is a basic courtesy.
Audio editing software
I listen, edit and process recordings with the freeware Audacity available for both PC and Mac.
It's a breeze to use for all the basics, like setting markers, cutting and copying. I sometimes use the Change Tempo feature to slooooow down a playback so I can catch a fast-talker on the first listen.
Recording interviews from a mobile phone
If you're using a smart phone, the short answer is, "There's an app for that." For instance, for the iPhone there's an app called Recorder that has been well-reviewed.
For a traditional cellphone, your best bet may be something like Freeconferencecalling.com with the recording feature turned on.
There are hardware plug-ins you can get for your cell phone. But the sample recordings I've heard are pretty rough. Save your ears, and don't bother.
Getting your interviews transcribed
The next step is to get your interview transcribed from audio into text. You can easily outsource this chore.
But if you're in a niche like technology or medical writing, don't expect a general-purpose transcriber to understand all the jargon in your calls.
Hint: Ask them to mark up any words they don't catch something like this: "17:51 ?? sounds like..." Then you can quickly go to that timestamp in your recording and fill in the missing bit yourself.
For some more tips, see 9 Tips on interviewing executives.
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