Listen Larry King
Larry King is a host of Larry King live on CNN and author of how to talk to anyone anytime anywhere the secrets of good communication.
People think I make a living asking questions which is true but only half the story. The other half is listening to the answers. So many people in broadcasting and indeed in life love the sound of their own voice and don't listen to what the other person’s saying. The key is to focus. The truest thing I haven’t heard in my life and I don't know whom credit for this statement is I never learned anything when I was talking. Think about the truth of the statement, If you apply this to your everyday life in all areas of your life, personal and professional, you’ll be much richer in the long run.
The key is to pay attention. If a sound of based follow up, if you don't understand what you're listening to, you may simply say I don't understand can you explain it further. There is nothing wrong with not knowing. It is wrong, however, not to admit that you don’t know. Sometimes it's hard to get someone to talk. But if you keep working at it, results can be produced. Here's a good case in point, I was interviewing an award-winning fighter pilot in Miami who is shot down 11 enemy planes in World War II. He was a guest on my show one night and everyone was excited to listen to a bona fide Hero. I had1 hour with him. My first question was why he enlisted in the Air corps. His answer was I liked it no follow-up. I could immediately tell that not only was this fellow nervous but it seemed impossible that I was going to be able to get him to speak for a whole hour. He was shaking so much that I immediately switch gears and I asked him about fear. I asked if there was an enemy playing at the top of this station would you take a plane to fight it ? He said yes. I said I would be afraid and asked him what he was afraid of in terms of doing this interview. He said he didn't know who was listening.
I successfully switch topics to a discussion of here. Within 10 minutes, he was saying things like we drove through the clouds. I can see the whites of their eyes. In other words, I had moved into a territory that was his territory and expression came out. So the tip here is to look for the person's comfort zone, for example, you might think being an accountant is boring but the account doesn't feel that way about his own profession. so you might ask something like what’s fascinate you about accounting, in other words, let the subject know you're interested in him or her.
To sum it up a conversation requires two people sometimes more. Listen to what the other person is saying you can thank me later.