Talk to Me

How to Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers, and Interview Anyone like a Pro

By: Dean Nelson

Narrated by: Michael David Axtell

From respected journalist, professor, and founder of the Writer's Symposium by the Sea, an audiobook that demystifies the art and science of interviewing, in the vein of On Writing Well or How to Read Literature like a Professor.

“Dean Nelson is one of the best interviewers around.” (Anne Lamott)

Interviewing is the single most important way journalists (and doctors, lawyers, social workers, teachers, human resources staff, and really, all of us) get information. Yet to many, the perfect interview feels more like luck than skill - a rare confluence of rapport, topic, and timing. But the thing is, great interviews aren’t the result of serendipity and intuition, but rather the result of careful planning and good journalistic habits. And Dean Nelson is here to show you how to nail the perfect interview every time.

Drawing on 40 years of award-winning journalism and his experience as the founder and host of the Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, Nelson walks listeners through each step of the journey from deciding whom to interview and structuring questions, to the nitty-gritty of how to use a recording device and effective note-taking strategies, to the ethical dilemmas of interviewing people you love (and loathe). He also includes case studies of famous interviews to show listeners how these principles play out in real time.

Chock-full of comprehensive, time-tested, gold-standard advice, Talk to Me is an indispensable guide to the subtle art of the interview guaranteed to afford listeners with the skills and confidence they need the next time they say, “talk to me.”

©2019 Dean Nelson (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

Great book and awesome narration!

It exceeded my expectations and it’s definitely beyond how to do a good interview. It’s more like how to have meaningful conversations and how to connect with people. The narrator did an excellent job as well. He is so good that when I get my next Audible credits, I might get one of the books he narrates just so I can hear him perform again.

Listen to Me

This is informative as well as entertaining. It’s a good one! It’s is good for rookies as well as pros.

This book makes me wonder if I could have been a journalist

I envy Dean Nelson's students in San Diego. If his class is anything like this book, they must leave feeling empowered.

There are too many lessons to summarize here, but a few that will stay with me are:

The power of up front research and preparation to create a context for a human connection between the interviewer and the source,

The goal of getting to something really new in the interview vs covering what others have covered in the past.

The arc is an interview reserving the arc of a story.

Sensationalism vs legitimate tough questions.

Great practical tips for conducting interviews

Lots of gems and tidbits you wouldn’t think about without multiple years of experience. Performance was good. “Hey for heat’s sake or heat for light’s sake” was illuminating for me.

A must read

Although this book is primarily about the craft of interviewing people as a professional, the stories and techniques (the rules, the art and science of it all) are also applicable to everyday conversations. Worth a read (or listen!).

Share humanity with the one in front of you

The topics in this book get straight to the heart of conversation. Overall this book comes at the topic of conversations from the perspective of a reporter. But the rest of us have just as much to gain from it. We all have conversations almost every day.

We should look to find the shared humanity in those conversations. Not sure how to? Pick up this book and you'll be well on your way.

A Fantastic Read Regardless of Your Profession

This was an excellent book that I plan to re-read multiple times. I’m a podcaster and someone who works in a customer facing role in technology. Interviewing and asking good questions is a large part of both of those roles. There were so many tips and ideas that can help me get better in my professional and personal endeavors. I highly recommend this to anyone to learn to ask better questions.

Not just for journalist;great for Salespeople also

Even though the primary audience for this book seems best suited for professionals in journalism, I found it to be quite interesting and educational from a salespersons perspective. Application of the techniques, questions, settings, timing, etc will most certainly result in increased competence leading to greater production and or clarity in communication.

This book was quite refreshing, and the stories and examples furthered the importance of preparation, and understanding the person you intend to interview, or pitch, as a salesperson, or any professional who regularly interacts with others. The authors transparency and humor made this an enjoyable, and an easy read.

I would highly recommend this book to any person looking to hone their communication skills, or for the obvious, any person actively involved with interviewing, or who is interviewed on a regular basis.

More than a great primer

I recently began hosting onlline teaching events and interviewing the speakers after the presentation. I realised that I needed to develop my questioning skills after I had done two of these events... and this was the book that I turned to... and I am glad that I did.

It not only helped me to understand the framework for a meaningful conversation, it gave me insight to questioning, relationship building and getting to the meaning of the conversation. It was a great primer for an interview... and so much more!

Connecting

Such an easy listen, great voice, very informational even for a podcast host. I really enjoyed the energy in the book it gave me a new sense of confidence to be able to connect with my guess and people I interview Thank you!