Interview with an interviewer, part 3

Question: So many political surveys are conducted these days and when the results of those surveys don’t serve partisan viewpoints they are condemned as having biased or faulty questions. How does a good interviewer get around such charges?

Answer: Simple questions yield the best answers. Simple questions are also least prone to being decried as biased or faulty. It’s a principle that interviewers should adhere to. A poignant example is the perennial question, “Is the United States on the right track or the wrong track?” It’s a very simple, straightforward question. Any political persuasion would have difficulty taking issue with it. It’s also the question that political pollsters say is most predictive of whether a president will to be re-elected or voted out of office. In addition to being simple and clear, the question is a gut check. It’s really asking people to say what they feel in their stomachs. If there’s a queasy or sinking feeling in this intuitive organ, you can bet the respondent will say the country’s on the wrong track. If the stomach feels comfortable, they will almost certainly say the country is on the right track. On election day people cast votes based less on cerebral reasons than visceral reasons. People vote their gut. A really good question gets to the gut of the matter.

The Donald Trump and Mahatma Gandhi models of persuasion

There could hardly be two more different people than Donald Trump and Mahatma Gandhi. Trump is pompous and self-aggrandizing, and has a long history of tearing other people down to bring more attention to himself. Gandhi was humble and selfless, and focused his efforts on empowering others. Here’s what the two men had in common: The ability to persuade others to their mode of thinking, though in different ways. Here’s how…

Code Red when hiring a writing coach

Hire a terrific writing coach and you might pierce the veil that stands between you and truly melodious and imaginative storytelling. Hire a poor writing coach and it could be a crushing blow that turns you into damaged goods. When considering such matters you would do well to follow the advice of writing instructor Natalie Goldberg. She points to one requirement that should be observed when evaluating a writing coach. That is…

5 ways to take the anxiety out of public speaking

Let’s start with the facts of life – people do and always will get anxious before addressing live audiences with speeches and presentations. Anxiety focuses and sharpens the mind. The surge of sensory overload is part and parcel of public performance and can be put to productive use if we adopt the proper mindset and adequately prepare ourselves for our time in the spotlight. Here are five tips for eliminating paralytic levels of stage fright…

Simplicity and the Wisdom of CEOs

Regular readers of this blog know that SIMPICITY is a theme I pound like a nail that refuses to move through the lumber. This is for good reason. My argument that simplicity delivers the greatest payload in all forms of communication just got a substantial boost from Adam Bryant’s new book “The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed.” The book focuses on five essentials for success – qualities that most of those CEOs share and look for in people they hire. Guess what one of the five essentials is…