Why we draft on paper first
Every learner in Module 2 starts with a plain notebook and a pen, not a screen. Typing a question list invites you to polish wording before you know what you are asking. On paper, a clumsy half-sentence can stay clumsy for a while, and that is useful, because the first draft is only there to show you what you are curious about.
I ask learners to write for ten minutes without stopping, using the guest brief as the only source. The brief tells you who the guest is, what they agreed to discuss and what they would rather leave alone. Anything that comes out of those ten minutes is raw material, and most of it will be cut.
Afterwards we read the page back and circle the lines that begin with how, why or what happened when. Those are the seeds of open questions. Lines that start with did you or is it true that usually hide a yes or no, and we mark them for rewriting instead of throwing them away.
- Notebook and pen for the first ten minutes
- The guest brief open beside you
- Circle every how, why and what happened line
Index cards for building the arc
Once the draft exists, each surviving question moves onto its own index card, one question per card, written in large letters. The reason is practical: cards can be shuffled. A question that felt like an opener often turns out to belong in the middle, and you only see that when you can pick it up and place it somewhere else.
We lay the cards on a table in three loose rows: orientation, the main thread and reflection. Orientation questions help the guest settle and tell the audience who is speaking. The main thread holds the questions that carry the real subject. Reflection questions look back and invite the guest to say what they would tell a newcomer.
Learners often find the middle row crowded and the others thin. That imbalance is the most common finding of the exercise, and fixing it by moving two or three cards usually improves the session more than any rewording would.
- One question per card
- Three rows: orientation, main thread, reflection
- Rebalance when the middle row is crowded
A separate colour for follow-ups
Subject specialists tend to answer at length, and the best material is often in the second or third sentence of a reply. That is why every main card gets a follow-up card in a different colour clipped behind it. Follow-ups are short prompts such as can you give me an example, what did that look like in practice, or what would you do differently now.
Preparing them in advance matters because during a recording your attention is split between listening, watching the guest and keeping track of time. Having a prompt already written behind the card means you can ask for an example without inventing the wording under pressure.
We also teach a quiet habit: write the follow-up as a reaction to a likely answer, not as a second question on the same topic. If you expect the guest to mention a deadline, the follow-up asks what happened as the deadline approached. It keeps the conversation moving along one thread.
- Follow-up cards in a contrasting colour
- Clip each one behind its main card
- Write follow-ups as reactions to likely answers
Using a timer to test the running order
A question list can look reasonable and still fill twice the time you have. We use a kitchen timer or a phone clock to test it. Learners read each main question aloud, then estimate a realistic answer length and add it up. Most guests speak for two to four minutes on a substantial question, so ten main questions rarely fit into a half hour.
The timer exercise usually ends with cutting. Learners remove the weakest questions, keep the ones that build on each other and mark two cards as optional, to be asked only if the session runs short. That gives you a plan with room in it instead of a list you have to rush through.
I also ask learners to read the opening question aloud to a friend or colleague who knows nothing about the topic. If the friend cannot tell what is being asked, the guest and the audience will struggle too, and the wording needs another pass before filming.
- Estimate two to four minutes per main question
- Mark two cards as optional
- Read the opening question to someone unfamiliar with the topic
Reading the brief against the questions
The last tool is a simple side-by-side check. Place the guest brief on the left and the card sequence on the right, and go through the brief line by line. Each agreed topic should have at least one card, and nothing on the cards should touch a subject the guest asked to avoid. It takes a few minutes and prevents awkward moments in the room.
In class we use illustrative demonstration guests, never real ones, so learners can practise this check on briefs written for the course. One brief might describe a woodworker who agreed to talk about training apprentices but not about past business disputes. Learners then see how easily a well-meant question can drift toward the excluded ground.
Instructors give written feedback on this assignment, and the comments usually focus on two things: whether the arc has a clear opening and close, and whether every follow-up genuinely depends on what the guest is likely to say.
- Every agreed topic has a card
- No card touches an excluded subject
- Check the arc has a clear opening and close
Keeping the kit small
None of this needs special software. A notebook, a pack of index cards in two colours, a clip, a timer and the guest brief are enough, and you can carry all of it into the room. Learners sometimes ask whether a shared document would be faster, and for a quick session it can be, but I would still do the arc on cards at least once.
Handling the questions physically makes you remember them, and remembering them is what lets you look at the guest instead of at a page. Interviews that feel natural usually come from an interviewer who knows the plan well enough to depart from it.
By the end of Module 2, learners have a finished question set, a marked running order and a short list of follow-ups, all ready to carry into the filming module with the same cards in the same order.
The tools in Module 2 are deliberately ordinary: paper for honest first drafts, cards for building the arc, a second colour for follow-ups, a timer for testing length and a brief to check against. Together they turn a vague wish to ask good questions into a plan you can hold in your hand. These weeks of autumn are a good time to try it with a colleague or a friend before any camera is involved.