What happened? That’s the simplest question in the world. Why’d you do this? What happened? I don’t know more law than a lawyer. I don’t know more politics than a politician. I don’t, I have opinions. But I’ve never run for office. I’ve never argued a case in front of a jury. I don’t know more medicine than a doctor, I’ve never operated. I’ve never done science. I ask questions of scientists. I’m a layman. I’m a pure layman who’s intensely curious.

1. Don't ask yes or no questions (duhhh) "tell me about the time when or tell me about the day when etc" Use "tell me" as a way to get them to tell stories. Tell me about the moment when you realized that this was what was gonna happen. Tell me about the time in your life when you were going through this thing. Another question that works really well, tell me the story of, just ask them straight up, right, you know, tell me the story of this. How did this happen?
2. tell people to describe conversations. if you get people telling you like he said then she said then he said then she said, that’s great
3. Ask "What were the steps" If you can get people breaking it down into steps, often each step is its own story. or "Walk me through"
4. Ask "how’d that make you feel?" It’s pretty straightforward but works
5. Ask "ask what do you make of that" or "What did you learn from that?"
6. “What’s the story behind X?" or "How’d you decide on Y?"
7. Is your life going the way you’d thought it would go?
8. Can the question be answered quickly? E.g. “What is your favourite book” is too broad. “What book have you gifted most?” is clearly definable and easy to remember.
9. Think about your sequence of questions. If asking a heavy question, ask a few questions that are easier and lead up to. Get them flowing and engaged.
10. Use examples in your questions. Help your interviewer by giving them examples. Gives them more time to think about their answer.
11. DON’T ASK THEM QUESTIONS YOU CAN FIND ON GOOGLE. ‘Nuff said.
12. Don’t ask really broad questions that can’t answer quickly. E.g. “What should I do” or “What advice would you give me for succeeding?”.
13. Prepare carefully, familiarizing yourself with as much background as possible.
14. Establish a relationship with the source conducive to obtaining information.
15. Ask questions that are relevant to the source and that induce the source to talk.
16. Listen and watch attentively.
17. Make sure your guest has a few stories prepared. It’s not good when you ask a great question and they’re just stammering.
18. Try to practice not saying filler words like "uhm" and "yeah".
19. Don’t laugh too much on the podcast, esp when other people are talking, it comes out really jarring.