Most bad interview prep starts by writing 20 questions.
I’d rather decide six things first. They give the host direction without deciding the guest’s answers in advance.
Podcast guest brief
Audience
Who should care about this episode? Be narrow enough that the host can picture one listener.
Angle
What tension, argument, or useful question is the interview actually about?
Run of show
- 00:00 to 05:00: context and stakes
- 05:00 to 15:00: guest experience
- 15:00 to 30:00: examples and ideas
- 30:00 to 40:00: tradeoffs, mistakes, or objections
- 40:00 to 45:00: takeaway and close
Questions
Write 4 to 6 anchor questions. Treat them as places to start, not a list you have to finish. The best follow-up is usually hiding inside the guest’s last answer.
Clip targets
Write down the kinds of moments worth listening for: a method someone could steal, a specific example, a strong correction, or a useful before/after. Don’t write the quote before the guest says it.
Guest prep
Send the audience, premise, topic areas, examples worth preparing, boundaries, and recording logistics. I’d keep the host’s follow-up notes private so the conversation still has somewhere to go.
I build Mato, and we turned this structure into a free copy/paste guest brief template and a browser-based guest brief builder if you want the structure without starting from a blank page.
If the host already knows exactly what the guest will say, the brief went too far.
