Helpful Tool for Interviews

I have, at last count, 4 reporter's notebooks, all with varying degrees of fullness, and all rotating use in my interviews. I love their form, how they fit in the back pocket of my pants, how easy it is to flip pages.

But sometimes, when you're interviewing a person who talks a lot, very quickly, or just in long sentences, its hard to get everything they say down. I can do it, and I have, but it can get downright tiring. Furthermore, if I don't write the story within the next day or so, some of the details of the interview will fade from my mind.

So when I had a chance to choose my winter holiday gift from my grandmother, I knew there was only one thing I wanted: a digital voice recorder.

The model I decided on, the Olympus WS-110, records 69 hours of high quality, digital sound, and all I have to do to put it on my computer is pull the recorder apart and plug it into my USB port.

I've done about five interviews so far, and every one of the recordings has been clear, without any skipping.

I just keep it in my backpack or pocket, and when it comes time to do an interview, I just ask politely, "Just so I make sure not to misquote you, do you mind if I record this interview?"

And, of course, phrased in those terms, most people will happily say yes.

Win-Win, right?

One post note: The audio is of a high enough quality to be used in audio slideshows for the internet, so perhaps this Funky Hatted reporter will post one, one of these days.