{"id":7631,"date":"2015-10-16T13:37:34","date_gmt":"2015-10-16T13:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=7631&post_type=story"},"modified":"2023-11-20T20:47:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T20:47:29","slug":"the-art-of-the-interview","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/the-art-of-the-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of the Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall 2015 | By Eric Michael \u201996<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Ybeth Bruzual\u00a0<\/strong>learned to love politics at a young age. \u201cIn Puerto Rico, politics is a national\u00a0sport,\u201d she says. \u201cMy main influence was my grandmother, Aida. As a little girl, I would see her read this big El Mundo newspaper from cover to cover and ask, \u2018Are you reading certain parts?\u2019 She would say, \u2018No. I\u2019m reading the whole thing, because we need to know what\u2019s going on around the world.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

That deep seed of influence would grow in Bruzual as she studied political science<\/a> at UCF and built a career in television journalism, first as an intern at Telemundo Orlando and WKMG and later as an assignment editor and anchor at News 13, where she learned the art of the interview from her mentor, Scott Harris \u201974.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI would watch him do ‘Political Connections,’ and I just fell in love with it,\u201d she says of the veteran anchor and analyst. Bruzual was named Harris\u2019 successor after he died in 2011. \u201cI told myself, \u2018Scott would want you to make the show go on,\u2019 and I did not want to let him down, so I chose to swim in the deep end and try to stay afloat and make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today Bruzual splits her on-air time anchoring the weekday morning news and hosting \u201cPolitical Connections,\u201d along with contributing to the Spanish-language version, \u201cRevista\u201d on InfoM\u00e1s. \u201cIt is a privilege every single day to be where I am and to sit with these people and ask them all kinds of questions,\u201d she says. And through her experience behind the desk and in the field, the journalist has learned how to ask the right questions \u2014 a skill that everyone can use to benefit their professional and personal lives, from job interviews to networking and social interactions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[callout background=”#d7f1d7″]<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how Bruzual gets the answers:<\/h2>\n

Prepare for Anything<\/h3>\n

Research is key. Before an interview, Bruzual reads everything she can find about her subject so she\u2019s ready to pivot when an interesting detour presents itself during the conversation. \u201cSometimes when I\u2019m already sitting next to them, I\u2019m looking down at my phone, Googling their name, and checking their Facebook or Twitter just to see if they\u2019ve posted something recently that I could use in that interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

Make It Personal<\/h3>\n

To break the ice, Bruzual begins interviews with personal questions to establish a rapport. \u201cI want them to trust me just like I trust them to give me the truth,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you talk about personal things it makes [people] feel comfortable, then I go in for the meat of the interview.\u201d<\/p>\n

Look People in the Eye<\/h3>\n

Engagement is impossible without eye contact. \u201cThe number one thing I do is I look people in the eyes,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen I look at someone,\u00a0I feel I\u2019m engaging them on a very personal level. I\u2019m not just looking at you, I\u2019m having\u00a0a conversation with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen More, Speak\u00a0Less<\/h3>\n

You can\u2019t learn from someone when you\u2019re talking. And to Bruzual, keeping your mouth shut is the most important skill for an interviewer to master. \u201cThe art of the conversation is to listen more and speak less,\u201d she says. \u201cThat really has helped me professionally and privately.\u201d
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