If you plan on interviewing guests on your podcast, you need to be sure that you’re up for the challenge. Getting interesting people to come to your show is only the first step. Then, you’ll have to decide what questions you’ll ask. Boring questions make for boring episodes and you don’t want listeners to tune out minutes after pressing play. Asking good podcast questions can really take your entire episode to a different level. Even if your guest is one of the most interesting persons on the planet – interviewing them with more interesting questions can be key for success.
What questions to ask will largely depend on the guest, what they do, and what your show is about. However, great interviewers tend to recycle a lot of basic questions that most people will be interested in hearing the answers to. So, having some tried-and-true questions in your arsenal should help you conduct better interviews.
Asking the right questions during your show can make or break your episode – we always recommend to tailor your list of questions for the guest you’re having on. Use humor and find funny podcast questions to break the ice or finish the episode on a high note. Give your guests room for sharing insights and interesting stories.
In this article, we’ll walk you through ten questions to ask guests on a podcast. A lot of these questions transcend podcast niches and you can adapt them to any guest. Let’s get to it!
10 Best Questions to Ask Guests on a Podcast
These questions work in most situations, but you’ll want to adapt them to your show. Whether that means injecting a bit of humor or changing the language will depend on your audience and your interviewing style. It’s a good idea to tweak these questions as you develop your podcast episode outline. With that in mind, let’s jump in.
1. What are you looking forward to talking about today?
With most interviews, it can pay to start off with simple, low-stakes inquiries. This question gives you the opportunity to get a sense of what your guest is excited to discuss.
Think about this first question as an ice-breaker. It can help your podcast guests relax and ease into more nuanced conversations.
2. What is your background in the field?
This is a simple question for your guest, but it will help them establish why people should listen to them and care about the interview. Typically, your guests will be experts or well-known individuals. So, their answers will likely be interesting for listeners who are long-time fans or followers.
3. What do you think about X current event?
Asking your guests for opinions on popular events can make the interview highly engaging. However, we recommend that you focus on events that are either related to the topic of the interview or the guests themselves. Keeping the questions focused on a topic will enable you to dig deeper into it and produce a more interesting episode.
4. What are your current thoughts on X industry?
Ideally, you’ll ask this question with a focus on the industry your guest works in. This is a great opportunity for your invitees to share their thoughts on the latest developments in the industry, and it can lead to compelling follow-up questions.
Overall, this question makes sense if you’re interviewing an expert in a specific field. If you’re not dealing with an expert, consider moving on to other questions.
5. Where do you see X going in the next few years?
This works perfectly as a follow-up question to “What are your thoughts on X industry?”. The former question focuses on current events, whereas this one leaves the door open for your guests to speculate.
In many cases, hearing experts discuss what changes might occur in their fields can be riveting. The more specialized the episode’s topic is, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to pose this question.
6. What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
This is a winning question in the context of most interviews. It’s likely that a lot of your audience is listening because they’re interested in the person you’re interviewing due to their expertise or success. Therefore, having them provide advice specifically geared toward beginners in their field is bound to be engaging.
7. Are there any habits that contribute to your success?
A lot of modern listeners are interested in the idea of habits that can encourage productivity and success. This is another example of a crowd-pleaser question, but one that can work well depending on the guest.
Some guests will dig in and explain why they love waking up at 5 AM, wearing the same thing every day, or another quirky habit. If you find a guest who is happy to answer this question, it’s likely to make for a great segment.
8. What projects are you currently working on and which one are you most excited about?
This question can work at nearly any point in an interview. It’s great for steering the conversation toward the guest’s topics of expertise. Moreover, it opens the door for guests to talk about what they’re passionate about, which should be at the core of the interview.
9. What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned in your career?
Once you’re nearing the end of the interview, a moment of introspection can be well warranted. This question opens the door for your guests to share some of their struggles and what they’ve learned from them, as well as what users can take away from their stories.
10. Is there anything else you’d like to share before we wrap things up?
Instead of ending an episode abruptly, it’s considered good practice to allow your guests one last opportunity to bring up a topic they want to talk about. This question can take the segment in any direction, so it’s important that you’re flexible and look to ask relevant follow-up questions.
Tips for Effectively Interviewing Podcast Guests
If you follow a lot of podcasts, you probably have favorite hosts or interviewers. Each podcast host has a unique voice that should carry into their interviewing style.
Some hosts will prefer to ask hardball questions, whereas others make it feel like they’re talking to a friend. Your personal interviewing style can vary, but it should follow some basic best practices, such as:
- Not interrupting guests
- Not talking more than the interviewee
- Encouraging guests to share anecdotes to make the episodes more personal
- Being flexible if guests aren’t open to specific questions or want to switch topics
Overall, you’ll want to make sure that you’re creating the best experience possible for the guest while also providing your listeners with useful content. With this in mind, you’ll want to respect guest boundaries and be adaptable.
Conclusion – Good Podcast Questions
Knowing what questions to ask is a key skill for podcast interviewers. Combine that with not interrupting guests, encouraging them to share fun anecdotes, and being open to the interview going in unexpected directions – and you have the makings of a fantastic episode.
If you’re not sure what to ask, you can never go wrong with questions about background, how guests got to where they are, and what they’re most excited about in the future. What’s more, these questions can fit into almost any interview.
Once your next interview goes live, consider setting up a website for your podcast. That way, listeners can easily find out more about the show. Beamly can help you set up a site without coding, and it enables you to import episodes in minutes. Try Beamly for free!
