59 Podcast Interview Questions For Your Next Episode

When you’re listening to podcast interviews, the conversation feels effortless, but anyone who’s ever tried to write podcast interview questions knows it’s a lot harder than it looks.

To help get you started here’s 59 podcast interview questions. Feel free to take these whole cloth or just use them as a starting point for writing your own questions.

Once you’ve written your podcast interview questions, be sure to claim your podcast on Podchaser Claiming your podcast allows you to customize your podcast page, respond to listener reviews, and promote your show.  Claim Your Podcast Today.

Table of Contents

• Writing Your Own Podcast Interview Questions
• 32 Personal Interview Questions
• 27 Professional Interview Questions

Writing Your Own Podcast Interview Questions

When conducting a podcast interview, much of what you ask depends on your guest and the style of your show.

Before recording your interview, research your guest. Questions will naturally arise when you discover holes in their history.

The style of your show includes your topic and tone. If you are recording a goofy podcast about animals, the questions will be vastly different than an informative zoological podcast. It comes down to knowing your goals, and what you hope to accomplish with your interview and your podcast at large.

Questions For Your Podcast Interview

Personal Questions For Podcast Interviews:

It’s important to get to know your guest and introduce them to your audience in a personal way. Here are some interview questions that reveal your guest’s human side. You can ask these on air or possible as an ice breaker to get them comfortable behind the mic.

1. What was your favorite subject in school?
2. Who is your hero?
3. What is a quality you admire in others?
4. Share a funny story about yourself that your family likes to tell.
5. Do you have a morning routine? If so, what is it?
6. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
7. Can you predict what your life will be like in 5 years?
8. What’s something you can’t go a day without doing?
9. How would your parents describe your job or career?
10. How did you meet your romantic partner?
11. Tell me about three people who have had the largest impact on your life.
12. If you had to write a book about one thing, what would that topic be?
13. Describe a time when an “insult” actually made you feel proud of yourself.
14. What would you tell your 18 year old self if you could talk to them today?
15. What is your idea of a perfect vacation?
16. Describe your favorite childhood memory
17. What is your favorite quote?
18. Which parent are you closer to and why?
19. Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
20. Can you predict what your life will be like in 10 years?
21. What is one thing that you’ll never do again?
22. Who knows you best?
23. What about your life would you like to be remembered for?
24. What do people misunderstand about you the most?
25. What is your favorite holiday movie?
26. What’s your biggest failure and what did you learn from that failure?
27. What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?
28. Do you think money is important?
29. Is your glass half full or half empty?
30. What is your greatest personal (non-professional) achievement?
31. What city would you live in if you could live anywhere in the world?
32. Do you have any pet peeves?

Professional Questions For Podcast Interviews:

Often times, you’re interviewing your guest to learn more about their career or accomplishments. Here are a few professional questions to get the conversation started.

1. What’s the biggest challenge you’re currently facing in your career and how are you overcoming it?
2. What is the most important personality trait required to be successful at your job?
3. What’s one opinion you have within your field of expertise that very few people agree with?
4. If you had to start a company tomorrow, would that business be?
5. If you had ten times your current budget, what would you do with it?
6. When in the day do you get your best work done?
7. What is the best job you’ve ever had?
8. What is the worst job you’ve had?
9. Describe a life lesson your job has taught you that is useful to people aren’t in your profession
10. If you could choose any other profession than your own, what would it be?
11. What is the most important lesson you’ve learned from your career?
12. Did you always want to be a [insert profession here]?
13. What motivates you to work hard?
14. What is a common misconception about your profession?
15. How do you balance your personal and professional life?
16. What do you think it takes to be a great leader?
17. What tools are indispensable for your job that are often overlooked?
18. What advice would you give to someone starting out in your career?
19. Name three podcasts you’d recommend to my audience and why
20. Name three movies you’d recommend to my audience and why
21. Name three books you’d recommend to my audience and why
22. What’s one thing your business did that you wouldn’t have expected when you first started?
23. Describe your experience with a professional mentor of yours?
24. Share a favorite productivity hack
25. Where can my listeners find you online?
26. What is your greatest professional achievement?
27. What’s one question you wish I’d asked you, and how would you have answered?

Add Credits for Your Guests on Podchaser

Adding credits to your podcast for the guests you interview helps boost discoverability for both you and your guest. Your listeners on your Podchaser podcast page can discover your guest and people on your guest’s page will quickly learn about your podcast.

Adding credits also boosts SEO. The more connections from backlinks between you and your interview subject tells Google that you are important, which they reward you with a higher ranking.

To add credits to your podcast episodes, all you need to do is claim your podcast to get started.

Read More About Podcast Interviews

• How to be a guest on a Podcast
• 6 Benefits of being a Podcast Guest
• 7 Tips to Conduct a Great Podcast Interview