Interview Techniques That Work
Proven interview techniques that draw out compelling stories and keep listeners engaged.
A great podcast interview feels like eavesdropping on the most interesting conversation at a dinner party. The host asks questions that listeners are thinking, the guest shares insights they have never articulated before, and the result is an episode that people recommend to friends. Achieving this requires preparation, active listening, and a few techniques that separate competent interviewers from captivating ones.
Research Beyond the Bio
Every interviewer reads their guest’s bio. Great interviewers go further. Listen to three or four of the guest’s previous podcast appearances and note which stories they always tell. Your job is to avoid retreading that same ground and instead find the untold angles. Read their most recent blog posts, social media threads, and any published interviews from the past six months.
Prepare fifteen to twenty questions but plan to ask only eight to ten. The extra questions serve as insurance: if a conversation thread dies unexpectedly, you have another direction ready. Organize your questions in a rough arc, starting with accessible topics that build rapport, moving into the substantive core of the conversation, and closing with forward-looking or personal reflections.
The Power of Silence
The single most underused interview technique is silence. When a guest finishes answering a question, resist the impulse to immediately jump to the next one. A pause of three to five seconds often prompts the guest to elaborate, clarify, or share a more honest reflection than their initial rehearsed response. Some of the most revealing moments in interview podcasting happen in the space after the guest thinks they have finished speaking.
This technique requires comfort with discomfort. New hosts fill every silence with verbal affirmations like “right” or “totally,” which can become distracting when they appear dozens of times per episode. Practice letting silence do its work, and you will be rewarded with more authentic, thoughtful answers.
Follow the Thread
Rigid adherence to your question list produces stilted, predictable conversations. The best interviews happen when the host follows interesting tangents while maintaining enough structure to deliver a coherent episode. When a guest mentions something unexpected or emotionally charged, pursue it with a follow-up like “Tell me more about that” or “What did that feel like in the moment?”
These follow-up questions demonstrate genuine curiosity and signal to the guest that you are truly listening, not just waiting for your turn to speak. Guests who feel heard open up in ways that prepared questions alone cannot unlock.
Editing for Impact
Not every minute of a recorded conversation belongs in the final episode. Edit ruthlessly. Remove tangents that do not serve the listener, trim long-winded answers to their essential points, and cut your own verbal tics. A forty-five-minute conversation might become a tight thirty-minute episode that respects your audience’s time and holds their attention from start to finish. Your guest will sound smarter, your show will sound more professional, and your listeners will come back for more.