interview-question-builder

Interview Question Builder

What This Skill Does

Builds a complete, staged interview question set for a podcast guest — organized from opening warm-up through core subject matter to closing reflection — with embedded follow-up prompts for each key question.

When To Use This Skill

• You have a confirmed podcast guest and need a full question set before the recording
• Your guest is an expert in a field you know less well, and you want preparation that allows you to have a genuine conversation rather than reading from a list
• You want to ensure the interview covers all necessary territory without feeling like a questionnaire
• You are interviewing someone with a sensitive personal story and need questions that build trust before going deep

What You Need To Provide

Required:

• Guest name and their relevant background (one paragraph is enough — what they do, what they're known for, why they're on the show)
• The episode's core subject or focus (what the conversation should primarily be about)
• Your show's tone and audience (e.g., "curious general audience, conversational tone" or "professionals in the field, technical questions welcome")

Optional:

• Any specific stories, moments, or claims you want to make sure you reach in the conversation
• Topics to avoid (personal subjects, ongoing legal matters, past controversies the guest has asked not to address)
• Approximate episode length (helps calibrate how many questions to include)
• Any prior work, writing, or interviews by the guest that the assistant should reference

How the Assistant Approaches This

1. Reviews the guest's background and the episode focus to identify the three or four most interesting tensions, turning points, or ideas in the guest's work — these become the anchors for the core question section
2. Builds a staged arc: opening questions that are easy and biographical (let the guest warm up), core questions that go to the heart of the subject (the ones that will make the episode worth listening to), and closing questions that pull back to perspective and reflection
3. For each core question, adds two or three follow-up prompts in brackets — not scripted follow-ups, but reminders of where to dig if the guest's answer opens a door
4. Flags any question that might be sensitive or that the guest may deflect, with a brief note on why and a suggested alternative framing
5. Adds a "questions to have ready but not necessarily use" section at the end — overflow questions that can fill dead air or redirect a conversation that has stalled
6. Closes with a "Next Step" note: which opening question to actually use first (and why), and whether guest-research-brief should be run to deepen background preparation before the recording