Best Podcast Interview Questions to Ask in 2024
As you prepare for an upcoming podcast interview, you need to decide on which questions to ask your guest. When you know the questions you’re going to ask before the conversation begins, it will be a much better experience.
It can also be helpful to send your guest the questions in advance so that they can prepare on their end. To do so, you’ll have to come up with your questions ahead of time.
We’ve come up with a list of the best podcast interview questions to ask to impress your guests, and your listeners!
How to Ask Great Interview Questions
Like most things, asking great interview questions is all about how you prepare yourself. 74% of podcast listeners want to learn new things. It’s important to structure your interview around learning more about your guest and the topics you discuss with them.
It’s also important to try to dig deeper with your questions. Don’t ask things that your listeners can Google themselves. Additionally, if you can ask the right questions, your guest will feel comfortable and will open up. Candid conversations make for some of the best podcast episodes! Don’t be afraid to dig deep.
Open-ended questions should also be your go-to, as they give your guest a chance to answer in their own unique way. An open-ended question means that it can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Closed-ended questions which solicit a “yes” or “no” answer are real conversation killers.
Let’s take a closer look at some specific tactics you can use to ask great interview questions.
Research the guest in advance
This one is obvious but it needs to be mentioned. You should never conduct a podcast interview without doing some research on the guest first. You may be able to get by with minimal research but that’s not the point, is it? Again, if you dig deep when coming up with your questions, your guest will do the same when they answer. If you don’t know the most basic information about your guest, you come off as rude and unprofessional.
That’s not the tone you want to set if you want to record a quality podcast interview. It’s also worth the trouble to research the industry that your guest is in. You may not want to center your conversation about work. But if you’re interviewing a CEO or other entrepreneur, a little knowledge of their field can go a long way.
Additionally, the more research you do and the more resources you use, the more inspired you’ll be. As you learn more about their life online, you’ll likely start to think of questions that you want to ask your guest. This brings us to our next point!
Follow your curiosity
As mentioned, once you start doing your research, you’ll become curious about your guest, what they do, and what they’re passionate about. Don’t hesitate to check out their social media pages to see what they’re posting about, as this could spark a bit of inspiration.
As you become more and more curious about your guest, the more that you learn about them, so will your listeners. Put yourself in your listeners’ shoes and ask yourself, “What would my listeners want to hear?” Follow your own curiosity but follow theirs, as well. If you stumble upon a fun piece of information that piques your interest, make sure to jot it down.
For example, “I see that you were a figure skater as a child. Did that affect your life in any way as you grew older?” This kind of question can lead to a much deeper conversation – if your guest is up for it.
Ask follow-up questions
This is one tactic that you should always use when conducting an interview. It shows the person in front of you that you’re genuinely interested in what they have to say. It also shows that you want to keep the conversation flowing.
Coming up with follow-up questions is just one more reason to prepare for your interview before you get started. You can never predict how your guest will answer any given inquiry. But you can create a few different follow-up questions based on some potential answers.
That said, coming up with good follow-up questions will become easier as you go. After a bit of experience, you won’t have to write out your follow-up questions. Try your best to treat your interview as a real conversation and your questions should start to come naturally.
Use active listening
As you can imagine, active listening means listening with your entire focus. It means placing your full attention on the person speaking to you rather than simply hearing what they have to say. Active listening uses several different senses instead of just one. Here’s how you can show that you’re actively listening to your guest:
Smile or frown when appropriate.
Nod or shake your head as they speak.
Make eye contact.
Lean slightly forward.
Focus on the speaker (put your phone away!).
Ask follow-up questions.
Repeat back what the speaker says to ensure clarity.
Everything above will show your podcast guest that you’re interested in what they have to say. It shows that you’re actively involved in the conversation.
Structure your interview
Coming up with an interview structure should be part of your interview prep work. It can be tempting to try and let the conversation flow freely and, in some aspects, it should. But there also needs to be a bit of structure involved. If you opt for “let’s see where the conversation takes us” as a plan, you could run into awkward silences or confusion on your guest's end. You will be able to edit your podcast before you release it but you need a solid base to work with. A structure can help you with that.
You should always start with introductions, as this will be helpful for listeners who have never heard of your guest or are unfamiliar with them. Then, build your interview from there. You’ll create an outline of questions to send to your guest before the interview, so you can come up with your structure then.
Having a structure to come back to will also help reign in the conversation if you or your guest goes off on a tangent.
Have a strong opening and closing
You want to hook your listener's attention within the first one to five minutes of your podcast. There are so many podcasts to choose from out there. If your listener isn’t interested right away, you run the risk of them skipping the episode completely.
You want a memorable closing, as this will keep your podcast in your listener’s mind for hours, days, or weeks (the ideal) to come. Leave your audience with something to think about.
For a strong opening and closing, try to lock down one or two “signature questions”—questions that you ask at the beginning and end of each episode. This will help tie your interview podcasts together.
Your listeners will start to look forward to the answers that various guests provide for the same question.
45 Podcast Interview Questions and Ideas
Great podcast interviews begin with great podcast interview questions. Below you’ll find a list of questions on a whole range of topics. These include your guest’s bio, their profession, career path, regrets, questions about their childhood, and more.
Remember: a good interviewer asks questions. A great interviewer asks a lot of unique questions on a variety of topics and aims for depth and interest. Be great, not good!
Personal background
1. Can you share more about your background and how you got started?
2. What’s your biggest failure? What did you learn from it?
3. If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?
4. What’s your favorite childhood memory and why?
5. If you could tell your 18-year-old self one thing, what would it be?
6. What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your life?
7. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever gotten?
8. What’s an insult you’re proud of?
9. How do your parents describe what you do?
10. Who are some people that inspire you?
11. Do you look up to any celebrities or entrepreneurs?
12. Name one thing about you that most people don’t know.
13. What has been the favorite job you’ve held?
14. What was your least favorite job?
15. Are you an early bird or a night owl?
16. Do you exercise/are you active? What does this involve for you?
17. Can you share your morning routine?
Business questions
18. Did you always want to be [insert career/profession/role here]?
19. Do you have any regrets about your career path?
20. What is a common myth about your industry?
21. What do you believe that many others would disagree with?
22. Is there anything that you’ve experienced in your business/industry that you would have never expected to encounter?
23. What is a challenge that you are facing right now and how are you overcoming it?
24. If you could go back five to 10 years, what advice would you give your younger self?
25. Who has been your most influential professional mentor?
26. What book has influenced you the most?
27. What book have you most often gifted to others?
28. Do you have any productivity hacks?
29. If you had 10x the budget that you have right now, what would you spend it on?
30. If you were in my shoes, what would you tell me to do?
31. What’s the most important trait someone would need to work in your industry?
32. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned in business?
33. If you weren’t doing what you are now, what industry would you like to be in?
34. What keeps you up at night?
Industry-related questions
35. What should everyone in your industry either stop or start doing?
36. What are your favorite industry publications or resources to learn?
37. What is your top online tool or resource?
38. What has fundamentally changed about your industry since you started working in it?
39. What’s something about your industry that has surprised you lately?
40. Is there anything you would change about your industry? Why?
41. What do you see as the future of your industry in the next five to 10 years?
Closing questions
42. What’s one question you wish I’d asked you, and how would you have answered?
43. What are you currently reading/watching/listening to? Do you have any books or movies you’d like to recommend?
44. Are you on social media? (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn)
45. Where can people go to find out more about you online?
Podcast Questions You Shouldn’t Ask
Now that you know the right questions to ask, it’s important to note some other things you should be doing to help your podcast stand out.
Keep your questions unique
We already mentioned that you need to ask your podcast guest questions that your listeners won’t find the answers to online. You should pose a few simple questions to establish who your guest is and why you’re interviewing them.
But the ultimate goal is to teach your listeners something! Simple questions about where your guests grew up and where they live now may help you build rapport, but you can ask those on your own time.
Don’t be negative
You’ve likely noticed that some of the questions above deal with negative topics like insults, failures, and worries. You should also notice the way we phrased those questions. Even if you’re discussing something negative, frame your question so that your guest has the chance to put a positive spin on it.
For example, the question, “What’s an insult you’re proud of?” is posed in such a way that your guest can share how an insult ended up benefiting them. Although they can hurt in the moment, insults aren’t always a bad thing. If someone called you lazy and thus inspired you to get up and make something of yourself, it’s something to be proud of!
Save the really personal stuff for later
This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t ask personal questions to get better insights into your guest’s life. It just means that you shouldn't start your interview with something like, “How did getting into that major car accident affect your life?”
Warm up your guest by asking them less involved questions so that they get a chance to become comfortable with you. It will also give them the chance to adapt to your interview style and, quite simply, get used to speaking with you. Your next question can be a bit more in-depth.
End your episode with a bang – and the really probing questions that you’re itching to ask.
Don’t overthink it
Ultimately, you want to focus on podcast topics that you would be interested in listening to. Remove your podcast host hat and put yourself in your guest and listener’s shoes. Think hard about what they would want to hear, a lesson that they’d like to learn, or any niche topics they’d be interested in discovering.
You’ll only create more work for yourself if you try to come up with a complex list of questions. It will likely confuse not only your listeners but your guest, too. Create questions that are interesting enough to hook your audience’s attention. But don't overwhelm them. It’s a delicate balance, but it's possible!
Create a podcast interview that you would listen to yourself and you can’t go wrong.
Set Your Guest Up for Success
So far we’ve focused on how to prepare for an interview as a podcast host, but what about your guest? Preparing your guest is an essential step to prepping your conversation. At the very least, you should let your guest know which topics you plan to cover during the interview. If you want to take your politeness up a notch—and make your guest feel more comfortable—you should send them a list of the exact questions you plan to ask.
Put yourself in their shoes again. If someone was to interview you, you would feel more comfortable and better prepared if you had a list of questions to look at beforehand. Give your guests the same courtesy that you would expect and they’ll appreciate you for it! The better prepared you are, the easier it will be to send your questions ahead of time.
The more at ease your interviewee is, the better the interview will be. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. Have a pre-interview meeting to go over everything before you get started. Check your audio, settle on the guest time, set up a camera if you plan to record the conversation, and other odds and ends.
After you’ve finished the episode, you should keep in touch with your guest. Tell them how you plan to share the episode via your social media or blog. Determine whether they want you to send them feedback after the episode has been released and what they want to include in the show notes.
Wrapping Things Up
Remember that your interview is only as good as the questions you include and how comfortable your interviewee feels.
When you prepare yourself and your guest (and use the podcast interview questions above), you can’t go wrong!
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Content Allies is a B2B podcast production agency and service. We pride ourselves on helping companies build revenue-generating podcasts. We take the heavy-lifting out of promoting podcasts so that you can focus on building relationships with your guests – and your listeners.