How to interview someone for a podcast or article
Job interviews want comparable evidence; podcast and article interviews want STORIES — specific, emotionally true, told in the guest's own voice. That flips several rules: structure loosens, tangents become treasure, and your job shifts from assessing to drawing out. The craft, from research to the edit.
Research until questions form themselves
Consume what your guest has made — and what they've already said elsewhere, so you don't ask what three other shows asked. The gold is in the gaps: the project they never discuss, the decade that gets one line in every bio, the opinion they state but never justify. Write 8–10 anchor questions; a great conversation will use half.
Sequence for emotional altitude
Open on comfortable ground — origin stories relax almost everyone ('how did you first get into…'). Climb toward the vulnerable or contentious material at about two-thirds distance, once trust exists. Land forward-looking: what's next, advice, hope. This arc isn't manipulation — it's hospitality; you're making it easy to go deep.
Ask for scenes, not summaries: 'Take me back to that morning — what do you actually remember?' produces tape you can use; 'How did that period feel?' produces adjectives. Details live in places, days and conversations.
The pre-interview and the edit
Five minutes of warm-up before recording settles nerves and checks levels — but when the great story starts early, park it: 'Save that one — I'll ask again when we're rolling.' Off-mic tellings are always better than the retake.
Help your future edit while recording: verbalise transitions ('let's move to the early days'), let answers finish cleanly instead of talking over the ending, and re-ask any question that got interrupted. For articles: record with consent, and confirm quotes in context — accuracy is the whole game.
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FAQ
How do you interview someone for a podcast?
Research past their bio (especially what other shows didn't ask), write 8–10 anchor questions but follow the conversation, sequence easy → deep → forward-looking, ask for scenes ('take me back to…') rather than feelings, do a short pre-interview warm-up without letting the best stories happen off-mic, and record with clean endings for the edit.
What questions make a podcast interview interesting?
Specific, scene-based, and un-Googleable: 'What do you remember about the day X fell apart?', 'What's the version of that story you never tell on stage?', 'What did that decision cost you?'. Generic prompts get the guest's rehearsed material — the same answers they gave the last show.
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General hiring guidance, not legal advice. Employment law varies by jurisdiction — check locally before adopting questions or processes.