Terry Gross Quotes

I am not the most eloquent guy in the world.

I like doing interviews. I really do.

When I'm interviewing somebody I don't work from prepared questions.

When you're interviewing someone, even your mother - you have to sort of deal with you have to get some objective space from yourself and the person but you also have to find what's the best way to get the information from that person.

I try to ask the questions I think fans want to hear and just have a good, relaxed conversation.

I have always safely relied on my voice modulations. It has never let me down.

How you use your voice is really important, and it's really driven by context more than anything else, and your tone of voice will immediately begin to impact somebody's mood and immediately how their brain functions.

I'm not a good interviewer.

I make friends with people really easily - that's one of my best qualities.

Ninety-eight per cent of all human communication is non-verbal.

I'm the best interviewer in the whole format. Except for Howard Stern, I'd put myself against anybody. Because I ask human questions.

If you listen to people talk, when people actually talk, they talk in melodies. If they get angry, their voice rises, and it's more of a staccato thing. When they ask for something, they're real sweet. It's all music.

Reading aloud to other people is wonderful - if you have people who will suffer it.

When I was a journalist, I didn't care how many people talked to Ice Cube before I talked Ice Cube. I just knew that when I talked to Ice Cube, it was going to be different than what anybody else had done, and it was the same with any group.

I have spent a long time being asked questions in interviews, so I've experienced it on the other side but I'm really not afraid to ask any question myself.

I never do formal interviews. I don't use a tape recorder. I take notes but occasionally.

I am a bit of a dynamic personality and have the ability to use my vocabulary in some creative ways.

It doesn't matter how you're playing: you've got to be vocal - you've got to be aggressive - if you really want to be one of the best in this league.

A lot of times, going into the interview, you have an idea of maybe what you want to talk about. And the people you are interviewing have an idea of what they want to talk about.

I can speak at length and use my brain. It's nice to be able to show that side of me.

My accent really comes out when I'm speaking in public or when I'm passionate about something.

Donald Trump creates word salads. And that is awful to language, because we try to parse out what he's saying and try to find meaning in it. Journalists don't have a choice about reporting what the president says. I find the idea - "Let's not write about his tweets" - to be absolutely ridiculous. I mean, he's the president! Of course, we have to write about his tweets and look at what they mean. The problem is, they're hollow. But we don't have the option of ignoring what he's saying because he's president. That's damaging to language, and to journalism.

Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river.

I do pauses, pauses work for me

In the first year of a child's life we teach them to walk and talk. And then for the rest of their lives we want them to sit down and be quiet.