Some comments from TED.COM

Marc Pachter has conducted live interviews with some of the most intriguing characters in recent American history as part of a remarkable series created for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. He reveals the secret to a great interview and shares extraordinary stories of talking with Steve Martin, Clare Booth Luce and more.
About Marc Pachter

Marc Pachter has spent his career curating and creating intimate portraits of the lives of others.
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Comments bout the video published by me yesterday, from different people (I edited them and taken out also their names)

But my comment that I did not add there, only here, would be:
YES! the advantage of asking about their private, not only public personality mostly aged people, is not only that we care less now, once retired about the opinions of others, but, as he pointed out in his speech : we know how the story finished and can then begin to think about how we got there!

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9 hours ago: While it took a while to get into this talk, I thought his key points at the end were very interesting, especially the summarizing comment "Everybody in their lives is waiting for people to ask them questions so that they can be truthful about who they are and how they became what they are."

I believe that this is true, and also that it takes courage to ask such questions. Ill certainly be taking that point away and thinking about how to use it to understand people better.

2 days ago: A direct question can sometimes be like an arrow through a frozen heart - it may break it, but happy is he whose frozen heart melts away.

5 days ago: This was a very interesting talk. Does anyone know where to find video copy's or transcripts of the interviews that he does? Thanks!

4 days ago: Looks like the best you're going to get is these publications: http://www.npg.si.edu/profile2/profile2.htm

Also what seems to be snippits of interviews here: http://www.npg.si.edu/audio/audiointro.htm

4 days ago: Indeed, they must have been recorded, being portraits and all. One might expect to find them at the NPG's youtube channel, but no. Come on NPG, you've been on youtube for almost a year now, lets get with the uploading! pretty plz

3 days ago: I was thinking the same thing myself. I can only hope that we are given the full episodes online, or even at the Smithsonian, soon.

3 days ago: It is so sad that something so valuable and interesting is not more easily to access. In this era of free information those documents should be easily available to the public... not to speak the schools.

3 days ago: This made me sad about all the questions I neglected to ask my grandfather before he died. It's a mistake I won't make again though: I'm calling my mother immediately.

3 days ago: Wow - this is arguably the most interesting, eloquent, inspiring talks that I have watched so far on TED. Once I got past the fact that Claire Booth Luce was a right winger (I don't know how I missed that) this speaker had me with his liberal definition of what it means to take and sit for a portrait! Now someone needs to interview him!

5 days ago: I have always viewed my father as a hero and, unfortunately, been unable to find the courage to interview him on his life and his image of self. As he's approached his waining years I've felt the imperative that I interview him growing strong.

Marc's talk not only reinforced the need for myself and my family to conduct this interview, but the empathic perspective and ammunition of questioning styles as well. As this holiday season approaches I look forward to an interesting series of conversations with my hero: My father.

4 days ago: I was a recruiter for a few years and interviewed people for tech jobs. You come to realize that when you are in a position to ask questions of others, you have the opportunity to open up another person's channels of thought. As this would pertain to their careers, there's a lot one can learn about themselves through the choices they make in their work, and how they verbalize it to others.

I really like Marc's point about applying empathy in questioning with your friends and family. If applied to young folks, it doesn't hurt to probe deeply and ask people of all ages to examine their life's story.

5 days ago: From this talk, I learned the way to ask questions is artful. You need to ask "right" questions which can directly touches and opens the interviewee' heart. Thank for sharing! : )

5 days ago: This talk had a huge impact on me. I consider myself a curious, empathetic individual. I exhibit my curiosity by searching for innovative, fresh questions. On the side of empathy, I feel that my EQ is exhibited by being able to understand how others feel and think and share these experiences with them. The overlap presented by Mr. Pachter is so important for us all to understand.

The questions I take pride in having asked tend to be memorable in terms of cleverness. But now, after watching this talk, I will focus more on the questions that unlock new levels of interpersonal empathy. I cannot wait to see what this new balance brings to me and my peers.

Thank you so much Marc!

5 days ago: At first I found this man arrogant and annoying (especially his frequent use of 'energy').
Then as I continue'd to listen I slowly changed my opinion.
Especially his examples helped me solidify the idea that this man knows what he's talking about. I realized that his message was worth listening to.
I'm actually really impressed by this man and we can all learn from his empathy and interviewing style.
As a society we don't listen enough to our elders...
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