How we prepare for a one-hour interview

People sometimes assume a good interview is mostly charm. In our experience it is mostly preparation — about eight hours of it for every hour you hear.

Step one: read everything, then put it away

For each guest we build a research document: past interviews, talks, essays, social posts and anything they have written about their work. The goal is not to find questions. It is to find the edges of the public story — the places where a guest’s answers start to sound rehearsed.

Once the document is done, we close it. Walking in with a script is the fastest way to stop listening.

Step two: the question map

Instead of a list of questions, we draw a map. In the middle is the one decision we think defines the guest’s story. Around it are four or five areas we want to explore, each with a single opening question.

The map lets the conversation wander without getting lost. If a guest takes us somewhere unexpected, we can follow and still find our way back.

Step three: the pre-call

We spend fifteen minutes on a call with every guest before recording. We explain how the conversation will flow, check their audio setup and ask one question we are genuinely curious about. Often, their answer becomes the opening of the episode.

The one thing we never write down

We never write down the last question. It always comes from something the guest said in the previous fifty minutes. That’s usually the moment listeners quote back to us.

Try it yourself

You don’t need a podcast to use this. The same approach works for customer interviews, hiring conversations and difficult one-on-ones: prepare deeply, then listen as if you hadn’t.