Resources
Meet the expert
Tom Krynski, Director of Radio News, UF
Tips for researching
Writing a script
Researching your story
Before you start recording you need to think about your story.
- What is the story about?
- Who are you going to talk to/what are you going to talk about?
- Where are you going to record - your location?
- Why is this story important - why will your listeners be interested?
If you are interviewing someone it is a good idea to make a list of questions beforehand. This will focus the interview and will also make you feel more prepared.
TIP: Avoid reading the questions from your list during the interview. Use it as a reference.
You will also need to write a script, regardless of whether you conduct interviews or not. Making it up as you are recording will not work. It will take you twice as long to record. As with interviews, writing a script focuses you. If you feel comfortable talking without the script, use it as a reference.
TIP: Use conversational language in your script. Talk as you would if you were telling a story to a friend. You will lose your listener if you use confusing sentence structures or complicated phrases.
Preparing your equipment is equally as important as researching your topic. Make sure to test your equipment before you go out to record. You do not want to get to the interview and realize that your batteries are dead or that your equipment is not working.