Read Nick's story on NRL player Braidon Burns hereRead Nick's story on UFC champ Rob Whittaker here[3:35] Nick on the challenges of not interviewing face-to-face during the pandemic"If you want to get someone's story, you have to sit with them face to face. The whole point is making someone feel comfortable and you just lose so much in a phone conversation, even in a Zoom conversation – it's not the same as being able to sit there and just read a person properly"[5:57] Nick tracks through his career progression as a sports journalist"I don't know where it came from but I've always just been interested in people"[8:06] Nick explains the way he carved out his own UFC niche at the Daily Telegraph"Early on there wasn't really a lot of interest in (UFC). When Rob Whittaker, who has since become our first champion, won the Ultimate Fighter up on the Gold Coast, I paid my own way to cover that … and it was a sidebar in the paper.""I love interviewing fighters. There are no more interesting people on the planet, I think, than those people who want to strip down to shorts and a pair of gloves and step inside a steel cage to make money. They've all got incredible stories … and some of the nicest people I've met in sports have been UFC fighters."[11:45] Nick on interview nerves and methods to deal with them"I find myself quite nervous before I do any interview. I've been doing this job for 20 years and I still find when I pick up the phone to people I really have to convince myself to be confident enough to talk to them."[14:24] Nick talks about his story on young NRL player Braidon Burns, which was a Best Profile finalist at the 2019 Australian Sports Media Awards"When you sit down with someone, they're putting their trust in you and they're opening up to you. You have a real responsibility then to do it right, and to do their story justice."[24:35] Nick touches on the problems of access in the NRL particularly[28:10] Nick talks about his writing style, returning to the Burns piece as an example"One of the lessons someone taught me really early on was: narrow your audience down to one person. For me, I've always written for that middle-aged tradie – loves a beer, loves a punt – sitting down on his esky at morning tea reading the Telegraph. That's the guy I write to every time."[33:40] Nick talks about interview techniques and tips"Have a real conversation. Work out what you want to ask and be inquisitive about finding out what makes the person tick. Really listen to what they say, and then your inquisition will tell you what to ask next.""You're asking someone to open up on some really personal stuff, so they have to get a sense of who you are as well."[42:30] Nick talks about rhythm and cadence of sentences and paragraphs"For me, and I don't know where it comes from, but there is a rhythm and a pattern to everything you write, and if I read my story back in the 'paper, if a word has been changed, I'll know."[47:00] Nick on getting meaningful responses from his subjects"When you get to the stuff that usually they don't want to talk about, the way I explain it to them is, 'For people to understand where you are now in your life, I want them to understand what you've fought through, or what you've been through, to get here'."[49:52] Nick talks about his exclusive piece with UFC fighter Rob Whittaker, who broke his silence about his time out from the sport"That most recent [Rob Whittaker] story was of interest to everyone. I know ESPN were trying to get him to sit down with them, so that he chooses to sit down with you and do it, you're honoured to do it, so you want to do it properly."[55:53] Nick on getting the quote he needs and then working around that"When you're interviewing someone, you get to that point and you're like, 'OK, there it is'. I had to take him back to that point on the dunes a couple of times to get a description … you feel like you're bugging him … but just keep asking, because it's going to help you in the writing process.""When someone says they missed a funeral [to train], you're not just going onto your next question. Really listen to what people are saying."[1:08:45] Nick on who, dead or alive, he would love to sit with for an in-depth interview Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
