# The person before you

**URL:** <https://forum.podcaster.community/t/the-person-before-you/4367>\
**Category:** Workbench\
**Created:** [October 14, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.podcaster.community/t/the-person-before-you/4367 "2024-10-14T14:02:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![craigconstantine](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forum.podcaster.community/craigconstantine/32/2322_2.png) [@craigconstantine](https://forum.podcaster.community/u/craigconstantine)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.podcaster.community/t/the-person-before-you/4367/1 "2024-10-14T14:02:38Z")

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> Be as open as possible to the person in front of you. Listen and observe _so_ closely that you can follow up on a sigh, a shake of the head, a change in tone of voice. Take a chance on reflecting your observations back to them without judgment: “You looked amused just now. What’s that about?” Ask the question about feelings that occurs to you, the one you might normally suppress.
> 
> Allow silence.
> 
> And see what happens. I think you may be astonished at the result.

~ Elaine Appleton Grant, from [Great storytelling is built on revealing interviews. Are yours falling flat?](https://soundjudgment.substack.com/p/interviews-are-the-foundation-of)

In conversation generally, and in our work as podcasters, is there anything more fundamental than being open?

ɕ