Larry King And Arnold Interview Analysis

There are many different techniques to a successful interview. Although proper interviews require participation from each of the two parties, it is fair to say a majority of the responsibility lies in the hands of the interviewer. Individual interviewers have their own unique skill set, and those who are proficient are able to adapt to various types of interviewees. Larry King and Tom Arnold are well known public figures who displayed their uniqueness as they each performed information-gathering interviews with Dax Shephard about upcoming movies he was involved in. King and Arnold use very different techniques as they transition from level one questions to level three, there are many factors involved such as their relationship with Shephard …show more content…
The body of his interview is more like two friends casually speaking as opposed to a professional recorded interview. The purpose of the interview was only discussed after the first commercial break, and there were some tangents due to the probing questions being asked. After the second commercial break the interview once again becomes the close friends reminiscing about Tom Arnold’s wedding and how Shephard was his best man. Arnold transitions to Larry King’s favorite game “If you Only Knew,” where he asks close ended questions and probes based on Shephard’s answers. Most of Arnold’s questions are open ended, but unfortunately not based on the purpose of the interview. He is successful in reaching all three levels of interaction, but as stated earlier, it was easier for him to get to the point of asking level three questions due to his close relationship with Shephard before the interview. If a question sequence needed to be established for this interview, an hourglass sequence would be the best fit due to the openness, closed questions with the “If you Only Knew” game, then a return to open with the conversation about Shephard’s experience with his father in comparison to “The …show more content…
For my field project interview, I will learn from Tom Arnold’s mistakes and hopefully be able to practice Larry King’s strengths as a professional interviewer. It was obvious that King was more professional and I admire his directness and ability to stay on topic. Arnold did not show this professionalism, but proved to be very personable and more than capable to get level three information out of his interviewee. Even though I plan on gathering level three information at some point during the interview, I would much rather go about it as King did through the diamond question sequence. I also plan on adopting King’s use of nudging and silent probes as a way to demonstrate to the interviewee they may continue speaking and I am actively