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Embrace the Uncomfortable Silence

In 1996, I landed my first newspaper job in DC. One of my neighbors at the time was the Washington bureau chief of Forbes Magazine, and a really top-notch reporter. We became friends and one day I told him that I was having difficulty getting people to open up during interviews. I wanted them to give me their real opinions, but all I was getting were prefabricated talking points. So my friend gave me one of the most helpful pieces of journalistic advice I've ever received. "Embrace