YouTube Questions to Ask
Questions for on-camera interviews, street segments and podcast episodes, chosen because they get a specific story rather than a summary. Each note says what the question tends to produce and how to follow it.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What is something you believed as a kid that turned out to be completely wrong?
Why ask it
Works as a first question because it costs nothing to answer and nobody has a reputation to protect about it. The usable clip is almost never the belief itself, it is the moment they describe finding out, so ask how they learned the truth.
What did you think this conversation was going to be about?
Why ask it
An opener that acknowledges the camera instead of pretending it is not there, which loosens up a guest who is stiff in the first minute. It also tells you what they came prepared to talk about.
What is something you are good at that never comes up?
Why ask it
More productive than asking for a hidden talent, because it invites the unglamorous skills: parallel parking, cutting hair, calming a toddler. Ask them to explain how it is done, since demonstration cuts better than description.
What is the most recent thing that embarrassed you?
Why ask it
The word recent keeps it out of the well-rehearsed story bank, where every guest has the same three anecdotes. If they cannot think of anything, move on rather than waiting, because pressure here reads badly on camera.
What is something you used to be certain about and are not anymore?
Why ask it
Gets a real answer where "how have you changed?" gets an abstraction. Guests often lower their voice for this one, which is worth keeping in the edit rather than trimming for pace.
What is a piece of advice you were given that turned out to be wrong for you?
Why ask it
Better than asking for the best advice they ever received, which produces a slogan you have heard before. The specific person who gave the bad advice is where the story lives, so ask who said it.
What is something everyone should try once, and what is the catch?
Why ask it
The second clause is what saves this from being a list of recommendations. It forces a caveat, and caveats are what make a recommendation sound like it came from experience.
What is the strangest thing you know a lot about?
Why ask it
Reliably better than asking for a random fact, because a subject can be followed for two minutes and a fact cannot. Ask how they came to know it, which is usually a stranger story than the subject.
What is something you used to hate and now like?
Why ask it
Pulls a small, dateable story, often about food, a city or a genre of music. Ask what changed, and be ready for the answer to be a person rather than a taste.
What is a rule you follow that other people find odd?
Why ask it
Personal rules are specific by nature, so they cut well and rarely overlap between guests. If the answer is a virtue rather than a quirk, ask for an example of it in the last week.
What is the worst job you have had, and what did it teach you?
Why ask it
The first half gets attention and the second half keeps it from being just a complaint. Watch for details you can cut to: the uniform, the smell, the manager's exact phrasing.
What is the strangest food combination you actually eat?
Why ask it
Cheap, fast and it works with anyone, which is why it survives in street interviews. Ask when they started, because the origin is usually a childhood kitchen and that is the real answer.
What is something you are looking forward to that nobody would guess?
Why ask it
The qualifier does the work, ruling out holidays and weddings and getting to a small appointment or a season of something. Small answers land better here than big ones.
What is a decision you made quickly that worked out?
Why ask it
Reveals more about how someone thinks than a question about their proudest achievement, which invites a resume. Ask what information they were missing at the time.
What is the most interesting place you have been, and what surprised you there?
Why ask it
Travel answers collapse into a list of destinations unless you ask for the surprise. If they name a place near home, follow it: that clip will be more interesting than another airport.
What is something people get wrong about what you do?
Why ask it
The most reliable question for a guest with a specific job or subject, because it invites correction and people correct with energy. Expect the strongest delivery of the interview here.
What do you wish you had known five years ago?
Why ask it
Keep the timeframe short, because ten or twenty years produces generic wisdom. Ask what they would have done differently that week, not in general.
What is something you changed your mind about because of someone you disagreed with?
Why ask it
One of the few questions that gets a thoughtful answer on camera, and the pause before it is worth leaving in. If they cannot name anything, that is an honest answer, and the follow-up is why not.
What is something you did that you are still quietly pleased about?
Why ask it
Softer than asking what they are proudest of, so it gets the small private achievement rather than the public one. Sit in the silence: the second answer is the one to keep.
What would you want to ask your future self, and what are you afraid the answer is?
Why ask it
A closing question that gives you an ending line rather than a fizzle. The second half is optional and should be dropped if the conversation has stayed light throughout.
Interviewing for camera
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
How you ask matters more than what you ask
One question at a time
Stacking two questions together lets a guest answer the easier one and skip the other. Ask, stop, and let the silence do the work.
Ask for the moment, not the summary
"What happened?" gets a paragraph of context. "Where were you standing?" gets a scene, which is what the edit needs. Push for the concrete detail every time an answer stays general.
Leave three seconds after the answer ends
Most people stop at the polite version and then add the real version if nobody fills the gap. Those three seconds are also a clean cut point for the editor.
Ask the question you did not plan
A prepared list keeps you safe and keeps the conversation shallow. When something in an answer surprises you, follow it and come back to the list afterwards.
Before you record
- Tell the guest where this will be published and roughly how long it will be.
- Get permission on camera or in writing, and get it from anyone identifiable in a street segment.
- Say clearly that they can decline a question or ask you to cut something.
- Agree which subjects are off limits before recording, not during it.
- Ask them to say names, places and titles slowly, so you are not guessing in the edit.
- Check whether they need to avoid naming an employer, a client or a family member.
Choosing what to keep
Keep the hesitation
The pause before an honest answer is often what makes a clip feel real. Cutting to the answer alone removes the reason it worked.
Cut your own question if it was long
A rambling question makes the answer look worse than it was. Replace it with a title card, or ask the guest to answer again in a full sentence so the clip stands without you in it.
Honor a request to cut something
If a guest asks afterwards to remove a name or a story, remove it. The one clip is worth less than a reputation for being safe to talk to.
Common pitfalls
Questions that can be answered with one word
On camera a yes gives you nothing to cut. If a question can be answered in one word, rewrite it to start with what, how or where.
Fishing for an embarrassing answer
A guest who feels set up shuts down for the rest of the recording, and it usually shows on their face. Ask what someone is willing to say rather than what you can get them to say.
Private subjects for public content
Money, health, grief and other people's private lives need consent in advance, not a decision in the moment. If it turns up unprompted, ask whether they want it in the video.
Running the list to the end
A good conversation goes somewhere the list did not. Twelve questions well followed produce more usable footage than twenty asked in order.