Why You Should Never Send Your Guest the Exact Questions
Sending exact questions guarantees rehearsed answers, because guests will write and practise them. Sending topics gives the same reassurance without the scripting. Guests need to know the territory, not the wording.
Guests ask for the questions constantly and it is always a reasonable request. Sending them is still a mistake, and it is worth understanding why so you can decline warmly.
What happens when you send them
A conscientious guest will write answers. A very conscientious guest will practise them out loud. You have now guaranteed the exact thing you were trying to avoid.
Worse, the recording becomes a recital. You ask question four, they deliver answer four, and there is no conversation happening. You can hear it immediately.
What to send instead
- The themes, three to five of them, in plain language.
- The runtime and the format.
- An explicit note that there is no list to study and nothing to prepare.
- A line telling them what to bring loosely, like a story or two.
That covers everything a guest is actually anxious about. The request for questions is almost never about the questions. It is about not wanting to be ambushed.
How to say no warmly
"I do not work from a list, because the good stuff always comes from following what you say. Here is exactly what we will cover so nothing is a surprise."
Nobody has ever pushed back on that. It answers the real concern and explains the reason, which is all anyone wanted.
The exception
There is one. If a guest has a genuine legal, medical or safeguarding constraint, they may need specifics in advance, and that is entirely fair.
In that case send the specific questions in that one area only, and keep the rest of the conversation open. You are accommodating a real constraint rather than a general preference.
Questions, answered
Should podcast hosts send questions in advance?
Send topics, not questions. Topics remove anxiety without causing guests to script answers. Exact questions reliably produce a recital instead of a conversation.
What if a guest insists on seeing the questions?
Explain that you work from themes rather than a list, and send the themes. Almost everyone accepts this, because the underlying worry is about being ambushed, not about wording.
Is it ever right to send exact questions?
Only where a guest has a genuine legal, medical, or safeguarding constraint in one specific area. Send specifics for that area and keep the rest of the conversation open.
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