Asking the Best Questions

Interviewing is more complex than just asking questions. A successful interview involves multiple skills, including listening, commitment to a line of questions, and the ability to adapt to whatever unfolds throughout the process. Paul McLaughlin has spent decades studying the art of the interview as a working journalist, interviewing coach, and educator. Using examples from his own career and anecdotes involving other influential journalists, this comprehensive handbook offers easy-to-read , practical tips for professional questioners in any field — whether in the newsroom, the boardroom, or a podcast studio. Asking the Best Questions offers insights for every step of the process: from researching and securing an interview to packaging the finished product. It prepares you for the unique challenges of every conversation: beyond actively listening, it instructs you on how to build trust and rapport, , overcome your fears, and provides strategies to navigate conversations about complex issues like trauma, prejudice, and inequality. It’s also a compilation of the best and worst questions that McLaughlin has witnessed, asked, and answered. Along the way, he shows you how to deal with difficult guests, intimidating topics and unexpected twists and turns McLaughlin explores the invaluable tools he carries with him into every interview, the avenues he uses to obtain interviews, the research he completes beforehand, and how he maintains empathy for everyone he questions. And he answers the question everyone wants to know: what to do when your interview doesn’t go as planned?