YOU HEAR THINGS WE MIGHT MISS

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted October 12, 2004)

I thought the moderator of the second presidential debate, Charles Gibson, had an interesting response to the question... who won the debate?

In a post debate interview, Gibson was asked how he thought it came out...... did Kerry win.... did Bush win..... or was it a tie? Gibson said there were four possible choices, not three:
1. Bush
2. Kerry
3. tie
4. don't have a clue

Gibson's response was #4.
He said he was too involved in his role as moderator.... keeping track of logistics and listening for followups..... and was simply too connected to the whole thing, to form an opinion on who performed best. He just didn't have a clue.

I understand that. If you've ever moderated a discussion or debate, or conducted a long form interview for TV or radio, you probably understand as well.

Occasionally, after I've completed an interview, someone might ask me how it went - and I have to admit, I'm really not sure.

Listening is a key to good interviewing, but no matter how closely you pay attention..... there are often so many technical things going on around you, that it's easy to miss a hidden gem in the answers to your questions.

I always hope I don't ask something like: "So what are your plans for the weekend?", after the person I'm interviewing has just let out a bombshell I've completely missed, like... "....and then I murdered my uncle."

The audience often hears, and relishes, words that hardly register with the interviewer.
And often, dumb questions will produce unexpected gems.

I'll give you an example of, what I thought was, a meaningless, throw-away question that a lot of people obviously appreciated.

I was hosting an interview show on TNN in 1992.... interviewing Chet Atkins. I asked Chet, almost as an aside, what kind of guitar strings he preferred.

I'm not sure Chet had ever been asked that question during an interview, and he offered a fairly detailed answer about guitar strings. I gave little thought to that particular exchange..... but later, I got calls and letters from guitarists around the country thanking me. They were fascinated to hear Chet Atkins talk about guitar strings.

I asked the question.... truthfully, not having a clue so many people would find that bit of information enlightening.

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