The passing of Larry King has me reflecting on the art of the interview and how the best questions are
1. Lean. Avoid the conversational temptation to load the question with your vast knowledge, either to prove yourself or connect.
1. Lean. Avoid the conversational temptation to load the question with your vast knowledge, either to prove yourself or connect.
(This gives the subject too many points to quibble which become off-ramps from the desired destination)
2. Neutral. It’s not a debate. If you treat it as one, it only walls off the truth you’re hoping they’ll reveal.
3. Open. Questions that begin with a verb (“Do you...? Will you...?) are closed because they can be answered with a yes or no.
Ever see someone ask a suspect “Did you do it?” that was followed be a full confession? Of course not.
Ever see someone ask a suspect “Did you do it?” that was followed be a full confession? Of course not.
It’s a worthless dead end but those questions look sexy in a promo or cold open, so we equate them as “tough.”
Open questions start with “why” or “how,” putting the onus in the subject to fill in the blanks and opening up enough space for the truth to peek out.
Open questions start with “why” or “how,” putting the onus in the subject to fill in the blanks and opening up enough space for the truth to peek out.
Because we evolved to converse with a mutual give and take, these rules are really hard in practice. But I argue that the reason King was a king is that his go-to question was always “Why?”
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