What I learned from Larry King
He was a Simpson’s character and a Miami Dolphins color commentator. One time he ran into JFK with his car. And those aren’t even the most interesting facts about him.
Larry King conducted over 50,000 interviews in his six-decade career. He’s widely considered the most successful interviewer of our time. Known for creating an environment where guests talked about things they had never publicly discussed, it’s hard to name a politician or celebrity he didn’t interview.
As an aspiring journalist, I wanted to find out
- What did King attribute his success to?
- What do journalists attribute his success to?
- What will I notice when I watch King’s interviews?
His secrets to success, according to King
Unsurprisingly, I’m not the first person to be curious about the secret to his success. Entire articles have been written about it. Lots of them. Three elements King himself pointed out frequently were
- Curiosity
- Good listening skills
- Not preparing
OK, the first two, sure. No one is shocked by those. But not preparing for an interview flies in the face of every journalism textbook out there. (To clarify, apparently King never claimed to be a journalist.)
King liked to approach interviews as if he were an audience member, not an expert. He felt that discovering information along with the audience kept his perspective fresh and relevant. And, to be honest, it seems like he thought it was cool, too. He talked/bragged about it a lot.
In all fairness, he talked about his curiosity and the importance of being a good listener a lot, too. Because he was such a curious person, he genuinely wanted to know people’s stories — famous or not.
King felt that one of the biggest and most common mistakes interviewers make is not intently listening to the person being interviewed. He pointed out how easy it is to be thinking of the next question instead of listening closely for information that will lead to the golden follow up question.
King gave three more pieces of advice on interviewing
- Don’t be afraid to look dumb. Ask the obvious question.
- Develop a sense of pace. Move on if the person is rambling.
- Stay in control of the interview.
King’s secrets to success, according to journalists
A pattern quickly emerges when you read what journalists have to say about King’s work.
- He didn’t have the best interviewing skills
- He didn’t ask the tough questions
- He was disarming — that’s how he got people to talk
That’s pretty much the consensus. People opened up to King because he was disarming. His cartoonish looks, “dumb” questions, friendliness, avoidance of controversy and genuine interest put people at ease.
My observations
After watching the complete interview with Prince and loads of interview clips, I came away with many of the same impressions discussed above. Here are a few additional observations I made
- He stays out of the way while his guest talks. There’s not a lot of “right” and “umhmm” interjecting. He leans in and listens.
- He shifts to a new topic just as the old one is beginning to taper off. I’m guessing that’s what King meant when he advised interviewers to develop a sense of tempo.
- He had a lot of confidence in his ability to come up with the next question on the fly. I’ll be sticking with research and prepared questions. I’m learning from his listening engagement and focus on the follow up question though.
- Many of his “questions” are actually not questions at all. They are observations or restatements he makes and allows the guest to correct or expand upon. There are two examples of this in the first minute of his interview with Gadhafi.
- It is surprisingly apparent when his interviewee shifts from a persona to a vulnerable human. Watch the first five minutes of this Tina Turner interview. Around minute four King asks a “dumb question” about the difficulty of being married to an abusive (now ex) husband. Turner’s physical transformation during that response is remarkable.
- He seemed authentic. Another disarming element.
So, those are my take-aways from the bespectacled, suspender-wearing King of interviews. What about you? I’d love to hear what you learned.
