Pre-interview preparation
Rethink’s media team receives at least one request a week for media volunteer interviews. If we receive one that we think will interest you, we will contact you to brief you.
We will explain who the journalist is working for, what kind of story they have in mind and what they are looking for from you. If you have any questions, please ask. You are free to say yes or no to each request.
Be prepared
No - go areas
Journalists need the facts and details of what has happened to you, so it helps to make notes beforehand. It’s really important to decide before an interview if there are any issues you don’t want to discuss.
‘Lifeline’ mapping
Drawing a ‘lifeline’ of your experiences can be very helpful, and need only take about an hour to do. The example given here is for a fictional service user but this exercise is equally useful for a carer.
"Have a look at an example of a service user "lifeline" (74 kb) ![[doc]](http://www.rethink.org/display_images/document_icons/doc.gif){kind=icon}
You need a piece of A4 size paper and a pen/pencil to map out the most significant times in your life and link them to key points you want to make. This helps to organise your experiences chronologically and decide which issues you don’t want to talk to a journalist about.
Once you’ve done this, see if you have three or four key points you would want to make during an interview. If you do, write them down and have them to hand during an interview to make sure you mention them.
Remember – a journalist should listen carefully to what you say,but he/she is not a therapist.
