It’s never a good idea to conduct an interview the moment reporters call. Instead, you should offer to return their calls promptly, and take at least fifteen minutes to a half an hour to prepare for the interview before you call them back. This works best for everyone, including the reporters. So before you agree to an interview take a few minutes to “interview” the reporter. Many journalists are willing to share the basics about the stories they’re working on, and any insight they offer will help you better prepare. You might discover that someone else in your organization is better suited for the interview.

By asking the reporter a few questions in advance, you will be able to pass on the information that your colleague needs to call the reporter back. 

Below are eight questions you might consider asking reporters. You won’t typically ask all of these for every interview, since journalists don’t appreciate being grilled. But they’ll probably offer some of this information on their own anyway, so just fill in any gaps by asking the most relevant of these questions:

1. Who are you? No, you shouldn’t ask that question verbatim, but collect the basics—their name, the name of the news organization for which they work, and whether they cover a particular topic.
2. Can you tell me about the story you’re working on? Keep this question open-ended and remain quiet while the reporter speaks (the more they say, the more you’ll learn). Feel free to ask follow-up questions and to clarify any points you don’t fully understand.
3. Are you approaching this story from any particular perspective? Some reporters will bristle if you ask, “What’s your angle?” This question aims to elicit the same information in a more subtle manner.
4. Who else are you interviewing? Reporters often play it close to the vest on this one, but it’s worth asking. You’ll be able to get a sense of the story’s tone by learning whether the other sources in the story are friendly or antagonistic toward your cause.
5. What’s the format? For print interviews, this question will help you determine whether reporters just need a quick quote from you or whether they’re writing an in-depth piece that will focus extensively on your work. For broadcast interviews, you’ll be able to learn whether the interview will be live, live-to-tape, or edited. For television, you might also ask if the format will be a remote, on-set, or sound-bites interview.
6. What do you need from me? Ask the reporter how much time the interview will last and where the reporter wants to conduct the interview. Also, ask if you can provide any press releases, graphics, photos, videos, or other supplementary documents. You can often expand your presence in a news story—and influence the narrative—if the reporter chooses to use your supporting materials.
7. Who will be doing the interview? For many radio and television interviews, you will be contacted initially by an off-air producer rather than by an on-air personality. Ask for the name of the person conducting the interview.
8. When are you publishing or airing the story? Review the story as soon as it comes out. If it’s a positive story, share it with your online and off-line networks. If it’s a negative story, consider issuing a response or contacting the reporter or editor to discuss the coverage.

Before an interview, tell reporters how you prefer to be identified. Include your title and company name, and spell your full name. Nothing is worse than seeing your name or company’s name mangled in front of millions of viewers, listeners or readers.

The answers to these questions will make it much easier for you to prepare for the interview as well as conduct some research on the reporter: check out their Twitter profile, their LinkedIn profile and conduct a Google search for any other stories they have covered that have been published online so you get a sense of the reporter’s personality, editorial focus and necessary background information.

Then, you can close your door, clear your desk, and start preparing your key messages, soundbites, why should I care and worst questions in the world worksheets and call the reporter back when you said you would confident that you are prepared to give a great interview that benefits both your organization and their readers, listeners or viewers.