I had a client interviewing someone who was known for one very specific thing. They’d written a book about it, had a documentary made about it and naturally, most of the questions my client had prepared were about that thing.

Then pretty early in the interview, the guest threw them a curveball.

They were sick of talking about it.

You can imagine the brief moment of internal panic when most of the questions sitting in front of you are about the exact subject your guest has just told you they don’t really want to talk about anymore.

My client could have pushed through the questions anyway. Technically, that’s what the guest was known for and what they’d agreed to come on the podcast to talk about. But it probably would have made the guest uncomfortable and I don’t think we would have ended up with a particularly good episode.

Instead, they got curious.

They asked why the guest was sick of talking about it.

That answer opened up a completely different conversation about identity. The guest talked about not wanting to be known only for this one part of their life because they were more than that. My client listened, picked up on things they said and asked more questions about those. They talked about what else the guest was working on and who they were outside the thing everyone already knew them for.

The conversation went somewhere it wasn’t supposed to go.

And it was better because of it.

Preparation still matters. A lot.

I don’t think the lesson from that story is to stop preparing and just hope an amazing conversation magically happens.

I’m a BIG believer in prep work.

For a solo educational episode, I think some of the best hosts have clarity before they even hit record about what they want the listener to walk away with. They might introduce the topic, tell a story that connects to it, explain what they’re going to share, work through those points with some context and then give the listener something practical they can take into their own life.

It doesn’t have to follow that exact format every time, but there’s some kind of structure there. If it’s a storytelling podcast, that structure might look completely different. Maybe there’s a beginning, middle and end and you’re taking someone through an experience rather than teaching them something.

The point is that the host knows what they’re trying to do.

I notice the difference when editing. An episode can sound casual and natural while still having quite a lot of thought behind it. Often the prep is exactly what gives someone enough confidence to relax once they start talking.

The problem is when preparation becomes something you have to obey.

Especially with guests.

Your list of questions should give you somewhere to start and something to fall back on. It doesn’t need to decide everywhere the conversation is allowed to go.

Listen for the thread

I think asking questions is SO underrated.

And not just in podcasting. I think a lot of people could benefit from learning how to ask better questions and actually listen to the answers.

I’ve edited interviews where a guest has said something and I’m sitting there thinking, ASK THEM ABOUT THAT.

There’s a little detail in their answer that could take the conversation somewhere really interesting. Maybe they’ve mentioned something surprising, contradicted themselves, quickly skipped over a huge part of the story or said something that obviously has more behind it.

Then the host goes straight to the next question on their list.

Nooooo.

They were so focused on getting through all the questions they’d prepared that they missed the better question sitting right in front of them.

I think of it as listening for the thread. Don’t just listen for the end of someone’s answer so you know when it’s your turn to speak. Listen for the bits you could pick up and follow.

If someone mentions that they nearly quit their business, don’t immediately jump to your next question about their marketing strategy. Why did they nearly quit? What was happening? What stopped them? How do they feel about it now?

You don’t necessarily need to ask all of those questions either. The point is to notice that there’s something there.

A good follow-up question can be as simple as asking someone what they mean, why they think that, what happened next or whether they can give you an example. You can ask how something felt, what changed their mind or what they know now that they didn’t know then.

And if you’re not sure what to ask, put yourself in your listener’s shoes.

What would they want to know next?

You’re asking the question for them.

Sometimes you need to shut up for a second

Silence makes some hosts uncomfortable. I get it.

You’ve asked a question, the other person stops talking and suddenly two seconds feels like approximately seven years.

But not everyone’s brain is wired to answer straight away. Some people need a moment to collect their thoughts, particularly if you’ve asked them something they haven’t really considered before.

Give them the moment.

You don’t need to jump in and rescue every silence. Sometimes if you wait, the person keeps going and that’s where the really interesting answer comes from.

Also, we’re making a podcast. It can be edited.

If there’s a long thinking pause that feels awkward afterwards, shorten it. If there’s a silence that genuinely doesn’t need to be there, remove it. That’s one of the lovely things about not having to broadcast the conversation live.

I’d much rather edit down a pause than have someone rush an answer because they felt like they needed to fill the space.

People talk differently when they feel safe

I’ve seen this happen with guests over and over again.

Someone comes into a recording nervous and they’re stumbling more than usual, their answers aren’t quite landing and everything feels a little awkward. Then gradually they relax and the whole conversation changes.

Sometimes the best thing you can do happens before you’ve officially started the interview.

Have a chat. Have some banter. Ask them about their day. Let them get comfortable with you before suddenly switching into PODCAST MODE and firing questions at them.

For in-person recordings with some of my clients, we’ll actually have everything recording before the guest even enters the studio. There’s no dramatic moment where someone yells ACTION and suddenly the guest becomes hyper-aware of the cameras and microphones.

They’re already recording while everyone is casually talking.

They settle in, have a conversation and start forgetting quite so much that there’s a camera pointing at them. Then the host can naturally move into introducing them and starting the episode without this big switch where everyone suddenly has to perform.

Because when people feel safe, comfortable and genuinely listened to, they’re much more likely to open up and show you who they actually are.

And that’s usually where the better conversations are.

There is such a thing as too much prep

Preparation can also tip over into something that isn’t helpful anymore.

You start with research because you want to feel prepared. Then you read another article. Listen to three other interviews they’ve done. Add more questions. Change your questions. Question whether your original questions were any good. Find another angle. Decide maybe that should be the angle instead.

Eventually you’ve absorbed so much information that you’ve confused and overwhelmed yourself.

I’ve done versions of this in my own work too. There’s a point where preparation stops making you feel excited and clear about what you know and starts making you question everything.

That’s usually a pretty good sign to step away.

I think there’s something to be said for noticing what’s happening in your own brain and body here. Are you still learning and getting excited about the conversation you’re going to have? Or are you now overwhelmed, second-guessing yourself and trying to prepare for every possible direction it could go?

At some point, you have to trust what you’ve prepared and trust yourself enough to have the conversation.

Curiosity will take you further than the perfect question

I find human psychology fascinating. I love understanding how people’s brains work, why we do the things we do and how two people can experience the same thing completely differently.

So maybe curiosity comes a little more naturally to me because I genuinely want to know what makes people tick.

But I don’t think you need to be obsessed with psychology to become a better interviewer.

You just need to be interested in the person sitting in front of you.

Prepare your questions. Do your research. Know what you’d like the conversation to cover and what would be useful for your listeners.

Then be willing to let some of that go.

If your guest says something interesting, follow it. If you don’t understand something, ask. If you think your listener is probably wondering what happened next, ask. If the person needs a second to think, give them one. And if they tell you they’re sick of talking about the one thing you planned an entire interview around…

Maybe that’s where the more interesting conversation begins.

A good interview isn’t about getting through every question on your list.

It’s about listening closely enough to know when there’s a better one.