In this edition of Voics Voices, I’m going to break down exactly how to ask clear and intentional podcast questions.

Why is this important?

The biggest mistake I made for years, and I see many other podcast hosts make, is asking double or TRIPLE barrel questions.

For example:

“How was that experience AND what did you change AND how did that impact your business?”

This is a super common issue and if I was to trace it back to my own experiences, it’s down to impatience or nervousness.

I’ve struggled with asking long and pointless questions for YEARS and it’s still something I’m battling with.

Picture this: you’ve been waiting several months to record this one episode. You have a long list of topics to burn through and you only have 60 minutes. It leads to doubling up with questions.

As a result, guests feel overwhelmed when they’re bombarded with questions. They lose focus and it disrupts the rhythm of the conversation. No one can comprehend getting blasted by many questions.

The conversation feels more like an interrogation and less like a podcast.

Your episodes should flow like two synchronised figure skaters on ice. Everything is clean and crisp.

For listeners, the problem is even worse. If you lose the attention of your listener, it leads to a higher drop off rate and lower retention for future episodes.

What can you do about it?

The first step is to focus on one topic at a time. In your notes, create 3-5 high-level topics depending on the duration of your episode. For example:

- Health

- Wealth

- Status

- Building

- Happiness

These are your anchor points. Of course, you can go off on a tangent, but this is the purpose of the episode.

Within each anchor, you want to add a maximum of 5 questions that relate to the central theme:

Health

- How has your health affected your career?

- Why did you have to make a change?

- How difficult was the process?

These questions are detailed enough to keep the conversation going, while still being connected to the greater idea.

What’s important here is the length. You’re not asking long-winded questions, but making everything short and intentional. Keeping the guests’ focus locked in on the topic.

The goal isn’t to limit you to a question sheet, but to guide you in a new direction.

The value will always be deep down beneath surface level conversations. If a guest responds to the first question with a deep personal experience, keep digging, ask “why”  to get to the very core of the event.

You don’t need to add your personal experience to every response, by the way. You can respond with a question, keeping the tempo high and moving in the right direction. Instead of saying:

“Wow, that’s great. Something similar happened to me 4 years ago.”

Get straight into the next question.

The outcome?

Your guest will share a new perspective they didn’t even realise before. You will take a traditional interview style podcast and transform it into a journey for the listener.

Try it and let me know if it works for you.

Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you:

→Schedule an Introduction Call: Voics is the straightforward podcast agency that creates, markets, and scales your podcast in a “done-for-you” model.

→Podcast Accelerator: Remove the stress, pressure and countless hours of growing a podcast. This comprehensive course will teach you the system I used to grow Kickoff Sessions and record with the sharpest minds in the world.

→Listen to Kickoff Sessions: Learn from 135+ entrepreneurs who have scaled businesses to millions in profit that will help you on your journey.