The direction, counsel, and support of my agent, Steve Ross, helped launch the project and keep me focused. Steve offered insight and guidance that refined my thoughts and sharpened my approach. He navigated me through a sea I’d never sailed, always with a clear and confident eye.
My editor Ellen Kadin at AMACOM was a delight to work with. Her edits were precise. She challenged me, always in good ways, to write cleanly and clearly. She reassured me as I tilted at the calendar windmills and offered understanding when I needed more time.
Seth Schulman helped me develop an arc and a conceptual approach. Jay Heinrichs parsed my words and told me when a chapter worked or, even better, when it did not.
The students in my Art of the Interview class convinced me there was a book here through their discoveries driven by their questions. The students who helped me with research, fact-checking, and editing were phenomenal. Nicholas Galbraith, Kristi Arbogast, Kate McCormick, you are amazing. Farida Fawzy, you will discover the world. Brent Merritt, thank you for your thoroughness, enthusiasm, and energy. You added horsepower to this project.
I owe my colleagues at The George Washington University and the School of Media and Public Affairs a debt of gratitude. They showed how an elegantly crafted question can blossom from research to revelation. My special thanks go to the infinitely committed Kim Gross, who bore the brunt of my fractured attention span as book deadlines loomed, and to the esteemed Robert Entman, whose research was a beacon and whose advice was invaluable.
I built this book around people who ask questions uncommonly well. Many of their stories made it into the text. Inevitably, some did not, though every conversation informed my writing. I wish I could have included everything. To all, I am deeply grateful. Your experience and your stories illuminated the ideas I was trying to convey. To Whit Ayers, Ed Bernero, Debbie Bial, Jim Buizer, Eve Burton, Dylan Byers, Jean Case, Adrienne Clair, Anderson Cooper, Al Darby, Jim Davis, Ken Doka, John Durham, Robert Entman, Tony Fauci, Nina Federoff, Gary Fink, Teresa Gardner, Terry Gross, Dave Isay, Rick Leach, Catherine Lee, Steve Miller, Gavin Newsom, Sandra Day O’Connor, Ted Olson, Diana Oreck, Karen Osborne, Colin Powell, Betty Pristera, Pradeep Ramamurthy, Jorge Ramos, Diane Rehm, Helen Riess, David Sanger, Bob Schieffer, Ed Scott, Jagadish Shukla, Barry Spodak, Shelly Storbeck, Sydney Trattner, Kevin Winston, Howard Zucker—thank you all for sharing your questions and your curiosity. The world is a much better place because you asked.
A personal thanks to Barbara Bradley Hagerty, who offered her experience as a journalist-author and insisted I could do this. Anne Rodgers kept the torch burning and helped light the way. Denise Schlener shared stories that showed how good questions cement good relationships. Chris Schroeder opened his home and hosted a remarkable dinner party that became a chapter in the book.
I am so deeply grateful to the place that gave me the opportunity to ask more questions and dig into more stories about the human condition than I ever could have imagined. I grew as a journalist as CNN grew from a cable experiment to a global presence. It was revolutionary then and it still is. Ted Turner, thank you on behalf of the planet for your vision and your guts. It wasn’t easy. And to my friend Rick Davis, I will never be able to properly convey my appreciation for your undying guidance, friendship, and superb judgment in the years we worked together. You always had a better way to frame a question in search of a clear answer. Wolf Blitzer, you are a one-of-a-kind champion of journalism and accountability. I hope CNN never relinquishes its mission to inform and engage and take people to unexpected places where they meet new people, encounter new ideas, and consider new horizons.
Finally, I want to thank my children, Matt, Chris, and Emily, daughter-in-law Emily, and my sisters Lora and Julie. You are my points on the compass. You are gifts to the future. Stay curious.
CONTENTS
Foreword
CHAPTER 1: Why Ask?
CHAPTER 2: Something’s Not Right: Diagnostic Questions
What’s the Problem?
“Miss Nosy”
The Mystery Patient
Bad News Is Good News
History Is News, Too
Challenge the Expert
After the Diagnosis, the Strategy
CHAPTER 3: The General’s Charge: Strategic Questions
Set Your Sights
A Strategic Approach
A General’s Command
Eight Yeses
Failure Is an Option
Getting Personal
Challenge Yourself
CHAPTER 4: From the Inside Out: Empathy Questions
The Good Professor
The Empathetic Interviewer
Therapeutic Inquiry
License and Limits
CHAPTER 5: The Gentle Interrogator: Bridging Questions
Get Them Talking
Solving Puzzles
Affirm and Acknowledge
Questions Without Question Marks
Echo Questions
Build the Bridge
CHAPTER 6: For the Record: Confrontational Questions
Care to Listen
Unintended Consequences
Demanding Answers
Confronting Power
An Audience Helps
No Way Out
Blunt Force
CHAPTER 7: Imagine This: Creativity Questions
Beyond the Possible
Travel in Time
Cutting Strings
Imagined Reality
Ask for Subversion
CHAPTER 8: The Solvable Problem: Mission Questions
Listening for Common Goals
The Value Proposition
Change the World
Sharing Works
What Brings You Here?
Asking to Listen
Solve Problems with Purpose
CHAPTER 9: Into the Unknown: Scientific Questions
The Doctor’s Quest
A Mystery Killer
Cultures Clash
Test but Verify
Stretch Yourself
Slow Answers to Slow Questions
CHAPTER 10: The Edison Test: Interview Questions
Hunting the Best Heads
Look Back, Look Ahead
Finding Innovation
Be Ready for the Curveball
The Candid Candidate
Asking for the Team
Interview the Interviewer
Bright Ideas
CHAPTER 11: The Inspired Host: Entertaining Questions
Set the Stage, Set the Tone
You’re On!
Supper with Socrates
Asking for Laughs
A Host of Questions
CHAPTER 12: Lessons for Life: Legacy Questions
Seeking Context
Why Didn’t I Ask?
The Rabbi
Facing Failure
In Search of Meaning
Asking for Life
CHAPTER 13: I’m Glad I Asked
The Justice of Citizenship
Ask to Lead
Poems of Humanity
Always Asking
Profane and Profound
Question Guide
Diagnostic Questions
Strategic Questions
Empathy Questions
Bridging Questions
Confrontational Questions
Creativity Questions
Mission Questions
Scientific Questions
Interview Questions
Entertaining Questions
Legacy Questions
Index
About the Author
Free Sample The Power of Presence By Kristi Hedges
About Amacom
FOREWORD
If you want answers, you have to ask questions.
It sounds simple. But it isn’t. Asking the right question, at the right time, of the right person—and knowing what to do with the answer you get—takes thought, skill, practice and—sometimes—luck. As my friend and former colleague Frank Sesno explains in this inspired and inspiring book, questions can solve problems. They can change lives. And the right questions at the right moment can even influence history.