The best way to record from the phone is to either use a speakerphone or wire right into the speaker leads in the upper half of the receiver. It is a simple procedure, but if you don't feel you can handle it, you can have someone at an electronics repair shop do it for you. If you can afford one of the more expensive cassette recorders with the capability of adding a foot control to stop and start the playback, this will make transcribing your tapes a lot easier. One other reason to tape interviews is that, transcribing the tapes can play an intimate role in helping you write the article. We will discuss this in detail in a later section.
Recorders can be somewhat intimidating when doing in-person interviews.
This is another reason for using the smaller, less obtrusive, micro-cassette type. You will find that, for the most part, your subjects will forget about the recorder once you get into the interview. When conducting in-person interviews for personality profiles, you will also need to take notes. These should record visual things, such as personal demeanor, gestures, physical descriptions of the surroundings, the person etc. If you are a photographer, even just a snapshot taker, it can also be helpful to take a few pictures during the interview.