Prep is where an interview is won. We send five questions ahead of every recording, and none of them appear in the episode.
They exist to find out what the guest is tired of being asked, what they have never been asked, and what they would talk about for an hour without noticing.
The five
- What are you asked in every interview that you have stopped enjoying answering?
- What has nobody asked you about this?
- What would you talk about for an hour without checking the time?
- Is there anything you would rather we did not raise?
- What should we have asked?
The fourth one surprises people. We have never had it abused, and it has twice stopped us walking into something painful on tape.
The fifth question is the only one that has ever changed a running order on the day.
Answers come back by email, usually short. We read them once, then put them away and do not look at them again during the recording.
