Writing workshop on interviewing for my staff...

Guys,

I am still a student, but I serve as editorial adviser for my college newspaper. Basically I am the editorial director, consigliere, etc. for the EIC. One of my tasks is initiating and running writing workshops, and our first will be tomorrow.

The first workshop will be based on interviewing, attribution, quote-selection, etc.

Do you guys have any suggestions for my first foray into teaching?

Thanks in advance, and any help is HUGE!

 

1) Bring doughnuts. And not the cheap grocery store ones, either. Good, fresh doughnuts.

2) And if the meeting is in the morning, coffee. (Sadly, if the meeting is in the morning, be prepared for the students to be listless and unresponsive. Seriously. Don't let it throw you. It's not that they aren't listening, or that they don't like you - they just aren't awake yet.)

3) Speak to students as you would wish to be spoken to.

4) Keep your main points simple. Then let the students ask questions to bring out points of detail. Be sure to interact - don't just lecture.

5) Without going overboard, be enthusiatic. The best teachers aren't always the ones with the best lesson plans - they're the ones who believe passionately in the value and importance of what they're teaching. And bring doughnuts.

 

i say this not to dimish your abilities, but you may want to also invite a local reporter to lecture as well. experience speaks volumes.

 

Rather than make a big presentation, I would try to find out the level of knowledge and skill possessed by the people being taught.

If I were trying to do this, I would limit the first session to interviewing.

One exercise might be for you to act as the president of your college and have people ask questions.

I would also try to teach about the wording of questions. I would maybe provide some standard questions. Maybe go over what you ask the subject of a story, and what you would ask other people about the subject. Detail how you would plan a story.

 

This might be a pretty good handout for the class:

http://home.earthlink.net/~cassidyny/naldertip.htm