Securing a presidential interview is not easy, but USA Today’s Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page has made a career of landing some of the highest-profile newsmakers in Washington, including 10 presidents.

Page, the author of three books and moderator of the 2020 vice presidential debate, shared some of her strategies with the National Press Foundation’s Paul Miller Fellowship program for getting the most from an exclusive.

6 Key takeaways:

        1. Source development key to landing interviews; be upfront about what you’re going to ask

“Constantly be making the connections that will help you… get an interview when there’s an interview around to be gotten,” Page said.

Preparation is key, Page said, urging reporters to determine how to distinguish their pitch from others also vying for a subject’s time.

“Try to think about what makes my interview more appealing to the newsmaker than everybody else’s interview request,” she said. “Why would this person want to talk to me as opposed to everybody else?”

It’s also important to be upfront with the subject about what you’re going to ask– an approach Page took when securing a rare interview with then-outgoing President Joe Biden.

“And I was candid. I didn’t lie to them. I told them I’m going to ask about current controversies but also about the full scale of his presidency and a look at what this presidency will add up to with the perspective of history,” she said. “The news cycle can be harsh, history can be kinder. We don’t know what history will judge with President Biden, but it’s worth having that as your perspective.”

        2. ‘You do not get 100% of the interviews that you do not ask for.’

Page encourages journalists to make a pitch, even if the odds may seem stacked against success. “I’ve gotten any number of interviews that I thought, ‘They will never agree to this, but let’s give it a try.’ ”

Similarly, if there is a tough question to ask, just ask it, she said.

“I would have figured out how to phrase the question for starters and then suck it up and ask it. That’s why you’re there. You’re not there to be friendly. You’re not there to be nice. You’re there because there’s information you want. There’s a story you want to tell,” Page said.

        3. Don’t ask Trump a question he’s answered — find something that will interest him

If you do have the opportunity to interview Trump, have good questions ready to go since he’s very willing to engage.

“If you can think of a provocative question to ask him, especially one that he hasn’t answered 16 times, he might well answer it. So I think it is always worth trying to think of something that would peak his interest, actually, that’s true of a lot of people,” Page said.

This goes for anyone in D.C.: “One thing that’s important also in Washington is to know what the person has said before.”

While covering the Trump administration can be difficult, it’s also an extremely unique opportunity.

“Trump is alarming to cover in some ways, but he’s really fun to cover,” she said. “Trump is very transparent.”

        4. Know your role in fact-checking

When moderating the 2020 vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and then Vice President Mike Pence, Page made a plan in advance for how she would handle fact-checking.

“Think about what your goal is and the degree to which fact checking is necessary and the degree to which it’s a distraction, because sometimes it’s one and sometimes it’s the other,” she said.

In terms of the debate, she decided it wasn’t her role to fact-check.

“Both of them said things that deserved to be challenged. But I decided that was, in this particular case, not my role, that the role of the debate was not the role of an interview. The role of the debate was for millions of Americans who didn’t pay much attention to politics, to take a look at these two candidates and decide which one they wanted to support,” Page said.

        5. Always have follow-up questions

“I’m often appalled by how I failed to listen carefully enough and that there was a nugget of something that would’ve made a really great follow up,” Page said.

She also suggests having a “walking away question.”

“[It’s] a question that can be asked really quickly as you’re walking away that is kind of different, not just a continuation of the interview. And that could get an answer that is really great.”

        6. Ask shorter questions

“The shorter and more direct a question is the harder it is to dodge,” she said.

Asking questions in multiple parts gives the interviewee more of an advantage, too.

“You’re giving the other person the chance to choose which part of the question he or she wants to answer,” Page said.

And, if somebody won’t answer a question, ask it twice; if they still won’t answer maybe that’s the news, according to Page.

“I think it’s important to ask it and then ask it again and eventually let it go because you’re not prosecuting them, right?” she said.

Access the full transcript here.