40 Great Questions to Ask in an Interview

40 Great Questions to Ask in an Interview

Once you have booked guests for your podcast, it will be time to start preparing for what you hope will be a great interview.

There are a number of questions to ask in each interview that can break the ice and get the interview off to a good start. These questions can apply to every guest, and open the door to a more detailed interview in which they then go on to talk about themselves and their topic in more detail.

Do Your Research First

Know who they are before you interview them, and help your audience get to know them through the questions you ask. Be sure to avoid asking any yes/no questions. Keep things open-ended.

Sample Questions to Ask

Here is a list of 40 questions to ask and make your interview a success.

1. Who are you?

2. Who do you work for/what is the name of your company?

3. How long have you been working in this niche or industry?

4. How did you get started in this niche?

5. How do you think your background influenced you to getting into this niche?

6. How has your role in this niche changed over time?

7. What are some of your favorite aspects of working in niche?

8. Describe a typical day in your life.

9. What hobbies do you enjoy when you’re not working hard?

10. What's your favorite book or movie?

11. What accomplishments in your niche are you most proud of, and why?

12. What are you working on these days?

13. What do you think newcomers to the niche really need to know to be successful?

14. Who have been your role models?

15. What is your favorite part of your job, and why?

16. What is your least favorite part of your job, and why?

17. Tell us about a time when you got some very surprising results from a project you had been working on.

18. What is it about this niche that makes you passionate enough to keep working in it?

19. What is the main advice you would give people new to the niche?

20. What common questions do you get asked about our niche?

21. What are some of the main problems you see that prevent people from being more successful in this niche?

22. What are your strengths?

23. What are your weaknesses?

24. What attracted you to this niche?

25. When are you most satisfied in your work?

26. What can you do for your target audience that other people in your niche can't?

27. What is your greatest success, and what did you learn from it?

28. What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?

29. How do you want to improve yourself personally in the next year?

30. How do you want to improve your business in the next year?

31. What is your ideal working environment? Where do you spend most of your time?

32. What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?

33. Was there a person in your career who really made a difference?

34. What are you most proud of?

35. What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?

36. What would you like to learn to do better in your niche?

37. What is your greatest achievement outside of work?

38. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

39. What’s coming up next for you in your niche that you are excited about?

40. Where can people get in touch with you for more information?

Make sure you ask these questions during each interview you host on your podcast and see what a difference it can make to your audience’s knowledge and enthusiasm.