Larry King siempre hacía esas preguntas, y era pura inteligencia emocional.

La gente recordará a Larry King por muchas razones, pero creo que todos crecieron en la misma ubicación original.

En resumen, King tuvo éxito como entrevistador durante décadas porque había aprendido a Hacer preguntas, escuchar con atención y realizar un seguimiento adecuado. Como resultado, hizo que las personas se abrieran y se revelaran, a veces más de lo previsto.

El sábado se confirmó la muerte del rey a los 87 años. Creo que su entrevista reveló una inteligencia emocional muy desarrollada; Irónicamente, una frase que fue acuñada pocos años después de que comenzara su carrera en 1957.

Pero King logró aumentar su inteligencia emocional con el tiempo. (Este es un punto importante en mi libro electrónico gratuito. Incremento de la inteligencia emocional 2021a la que estás invitado Descarga aquí.)

Conocí a King hace unos años cuando trabajaba como asistente principal del escritor y periodista Bob Woodward en El Washington Postquien era un invitado frecuente Larry King en Directo en CNN.

Recuerdo darme cuenta de que no había “acto”. El Larry King que viste en la televisión era el mismo rey que vi en el estudio.

También recuerdo haber notado la estructura de sus preguntas, que básicamente se veían así: abrir de par en par, escuchar con atención, concentrarse en los detalles, hacer una pausa cuando el tema de la entrevista se volviera filibustero o aburrido y tener la disciplina fuera del camino a seguir.

En una sesión de preguntas y respuestas de 2017 en el sitio web de Revista de periodismo de Columbia, King entró en más detalles y básicamente reveló todos sus secretos. (Recomiendo el artículo completo; también hay un podcast relacionado). Aquí hay cinco de los aspectos más destacados, la mayoría en palabras del propio King:

1. No tuvo miedo de revelar su ignorancia.

La ignorancia tiene mala reputación. No significa estupidez; significa falta de conocimiento. A veces, lo más sabio es admitir que no tienes ningún conocimiento. Y ciertamente es una característica de la inteligencia emocional.

Rey: eres el mejor [questions]. … ‘¿Que pasó?’ Es la pregunta más fácil del mundo. ¿Por qué hiciste eso? ¿Que pasó? No conozco más leyes que un abogado. No conozco más política que un político. … No conozco más medicina que un médico. Soy un laico. Soy un laico puro que es muy curioso. Lo que tengo es una sensación de velocidad. Sé que cuando algo va bien, sé cómo sacar a la gente. “

2. Escuchó las respuestas.

Otro rasgo clave de la inteligencia emocional. No quiero revelar mi trabajo, pero a veces me sorprende la cantidad de entrevistadores que no escuchan con atención las respuestas a sus preguntas. Simplemente pasa al siguiente punto.

Rey: “[T]La clave de la entrevista es escuchar. Si no escucha, no es un buen entrevistador. Odio a los entrevistadores que tienen una larga lista de preguntas preparadas porque dependen de pasar de la cuarta a la quinta pregunta sin escuchar la respuesta. … me concentro únicamente en la respuesta y confío en mis instintos [more] Pedir.”

3. No se preparó en exceso.

Si estuvieras en King’s Show porque escribiste un libro, era muy probable que no lo hubiera leído antes. Dijo que esto lo ayudó a abordar la entrevista desde la perspectiva de su audiencia.

King: Tuve el primer programa de entrevistas de radio nacional. Solíamos tener … ‘¿Quién es el invitado?’ No me dirías quién es el invitado. Tengo que hacer una entrevista de dos horas, hombre o mujer, y todo lo que tienes que hacer es decirme tu nombre. Y luego averiguaría quiénes son y luego les haría preguntas. Me encantó que. … Estoy en el mismo barco que la audiencia, no han leído el libro. Así que estamos todos juntos. “

4. Tenía el control de sus emociones.

Las entrevistas “más duras”, dijo King, fueron aquellas en las que contradijo con vehemencia a sus invitados, pero trabajó duro para mantenerse a sí mismo y sus sentimientos fuera de la ecuación. La única vez que no pudo hacer esto, dijo, fue cuando entrevistó a personas que obviamente eran racistas. Y si bien fue satisfactorio enfrentarlos, no fueron buenas entrevistas.

King: Nunca entendí el racismo. ¿Por qué el pigmento debería significar algo para la piel? ¿Cualquier cosa? Entonces, cuando me enfrenté a George Wallace temprano, o al jefe del Ku Klux Klan, o George Lincoln Rockwell, el racista antisemita My Mind y yo nos enfrentamos y, a veces, discutíamos. No es bueno discutir con el invitado. Porque puede resultar interesante para la audiencia, pero te descontrola. Cuando discutes, estás fuera de control. “

5. Puso a sus súbditos en control.

Irónicamente de nuevo, King tenía la reputación de ser una entrevista “segura” para las celebridades. Pero debido a esto, a veces revelaron más de lo que querían. King utilizó el ejemplo de su rara entrevista de 1988 con Frank Sinatra.

En resumen, la única condición de la entrevista a la que King accedió fue que no mencionara el secuestro del hijo de Sinatra en 1963. (Tenía que ver eso;; Sinatra pagó un rescate y su hijo fue liberado.) Pero luego:

“En medio de la entrevista, estamos realmente en contacto. Y le pregunté: ‘Sobre ti y la prensa, ¿es excesivo o te han golpeado?’ Él dice: “Bueno, podría haber sido una exageración. Pero me golpearon. Tomemos el caso del secuestro de mi hijo. “Él lo mencionó. Solo hice buenas preguntas. Y ese es el marco en el que disfruto trabajando”.

Así que descanse en paz Larry King. King dijo en el mismo CJR Entrevista que no creía en la vida después de la muerte. Espero que se haya equivocado y que esté haciendo preguntas de gran alcance a muchas almas fascinantes y obteniendo respuestas realmente interesantes.

Las opiniones expresadas por los columnistas de Heaven32 aquí son las suyas, no las de Heaven32.

, which you're invited to download here.) n I knew King slightly years ago, when I worked in the mid-2000s as the lead assistant to author and journalist Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, who was a frequent guest on Larry King Live on CNN. n I remember being struck that there was no "act." The Larry King you saw on TV was the same King I saw in the studio. n I also remember noticing the structure of his questions, which basically went like this: Open broadly, listen closely, focus on detail, interrupt if the interview subject filibustered or grew boring, and have the discipline to stay out of the way. n In a 2017 Q&A on the website of Columbia Journalism Review, King went into greater detail, basically revealing all of his secrets. (I recommend the whole article; there's also a related podcast.) Here are five of the key highlights, largely in King's own words: n

1.    He wasn't afraid to betray his ignorance.

n Ignorance gets a bad rap. It doesn't mean stupidity; it means a lack of knowledge. Sometimes admitting your lack of knowledge is the smartest thing you can do. And it's certainly a trait of emotional intelligence. n King: "They're the best [questions]. ...  'What happened?' That's the simplest question in the world. Why'd you do this? What happened? I don't know more law than a lawyer. I don't know more politics than a politician. ... I don't know more medicine than a doctor. ... I'm a layman. I'm a pure layman who's intensely curious. What I do have is a sense of pace. I know when something's going well, I know how to draw people out." n

2.    He listened to the answers.

n Again, another key attribute of emotional intelligence. Not to betray my profession, but I'm sometimes amazed at how many interviewers don't really listen carefully to the answers to their questions; they simply move on to their next point. n King: "[T]he key of interviewing is listening. If you don't listen, you're not a good interviewer. I hate interviewers who come with a long list of prepared questions, because they're going to depend on going from the fourth question to the fiHeaven32h question without listening to the answer. ... I concentrate solely on the answer, and I trust my instincts to come up with [more] questions." n

3.    He didn't over-prepare.

n If you were going to be on King's show because you had written a book, odds were good that he wouldn't have read it ahead of time. He said this helped him approach the interview from the point of view of his audience. n King: "I had the first national radio talk show. We used to do ... 'Who Is The Guest?' They would not tell me who the guest is I've got to do a two-hour interview, guy or woman, and all they have to do is tell me their name. And then I'd find out who they were, and then I'd ask them questions. I loved that. ... I'm in the same boat as the audience, they haven't read the book. So we're all in this together." n

4.    He kept control of his emotions.

n The "hardest" interviews, King said, were the ones in which he vehemently disagreed with his guests, but worked hard to keep himself and his feelings out of the equation. The only times he wasn't able to do that, he said, was when interviewing people who were blatantly racist. And while it was satisfying to confront them, it didn't make for good interviews. n King: "I never understood racism. Why would the pigment of skin mean anything? Anything? So when I had George Wallace on early, or the head of the Ku Klux Klan, or George Lincoln Rockwell, the anti-Semitic racist. That blew my mind, and I would get confrontational and sometimes have arguments. It's not good to argue with the guest. Because it's maybe interesting for the audience, but it puts you out of control. When you argue, you're not in control." n

5.    He gave control to his subjects.

n Again, an irony: King had a reputation for being a bit of a "safe" interview for celebrities. But because of that, they sometimes wound up revealing more than they meant to. King used the example of his rare 1988 interview with Frank Sinatra.  n In short, the one condition for the interview, which King agreed to, was that he not bring up the 1963 kidnapping of Sinatra's son. (I had to look this up; Sinatra paid a ransom and his son was released.) But then: n
"In the middle of the interview, we're really in touch. And I asked him, 'The thing with you and the press--is it overdone, or have you been bum-rapped?' He says, 'Well, it might have been overdone. But I've been bum-rapped. Take my son's kidnapping.' He brought it up. I just was asking good questions. And that's the framework of which I like to work."
n So, rest in peace, Larry King. King said in that same CJR interview that he didn't believe in an aHeaven32erlife. I hope he was wrong about that--and that he's asking broad questions of a lot of fascinating souls right now, and getting some really illuminating answers. n
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