What Happens When All Podcasters Use the Same AI Interview Prompts

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "What Happens When All Podcasters Use the Same AI Interview Prompts"

Podcast: Your Podcast Consultant: Podcast Tips To Avoid Podcasting Mistakes
Host: Dave Jackson
Episode Date: May 22, 2026
Duration: ~9 minutes

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Episode Overview

In this concise, actionable episode, podcasting expert Dave Jackson explores the rising trend of podcasters using AI-generated interview prompts—and the pitfalls that come with it. Drawing on his recent experience as a guest on multiple beginner podcasts in one afternoon, Dave highlights the issues caused by formulaic questions and lack of research. He offers practical advice for new podcasters to stand out, provide real value, and craft better interviews, even in an AI-driven world.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Problem: Identical Interviews and Poor Preparation

• Back-to-Back Podcast Interviews:

  • Dave schedules four podcasts with new hosts (all under 10 episodes) in one evening ([01:00]).
  • Notices striking similarities: all ask nearly the same questions, in nearly the same order.

• Audio Quality Issues:

  • All hosts had poor audio—built-in mics, echoey rooms, and overall amateur sound quality.
  • Quick, compassionate fix suggested: “Go get a Samson Q2U microphone and plug it in.” ([01:28])

• Lack of Research:

  • Hosts read Dave’s PodMatch bio verbatim, then immediately ask him to “tell us about yourself,” repeating information just shared ([02:48]).
  • Dave speculates they hadn't researched why they were interviewing him or tailored their approach.

2. The AI Prompt Phenomenon

• AI-Generated Questions Lead to Sameness:

  • Dave suspects hosts are relying on ChatGPT or similar tools to generate generic questions.
  • Classic example: All three asked, “So many podcasters don’t make it past episode seven. What’s the difference between a podcast that succeeds and one that fails?”—always as question #3 ([03:20]).
  • “I just felt like they had just gone to ChatGPT and said, 'I’m interviewing Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting. Give me six questions.' Because they were all almost identical.” ([06:15])

• The Myth of Easy Podcast Growth via AI:

  • Suggests some marketers pitch a formula: use AI for questions, use PodMatch/Podcast Guests to find guests, then expect massive downloads and money.
  • Dave calls this out as a fallacy: “You go there, you have whatever, ChatGPT, some sort of AI tool, come up with some questions, you ask them the questions, you get tons of downloads—which you don’t … and you make tons of money. Well, that’s not going to happen.” ([04:26])

3. The Value of Real Research and Originality

• Why Guests Don’t Share Your Show:

  • If every podcast appearance is nearly identical, guests feel little incentive to share multiple versions with their audience; instead, they'll share the first unique, high-value interview. ([05:08])
  • “If you're having guests on your show to help grow your audience, you have to do the research and you have to do a different interview.” ([06:04])

• How Dave Prepares for Interviews:

  • Example: For an interview with Justin Moore (author, “Sponsor Magnet”), Dave listened to several prior interviews, prepared both “greatest hits” and unique questions ([06:46]).
  • Communicated with the guest: “I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to run you through your greatest hits… If you want to share it, fine. If not, thanks again for bringing value to my audience.” ([07:18])

• 'Crazy' Prep is Just Good Practice:

  • On Reddit, Dave shared his prep process; others called it “crazy prep.”
  • Dave’s take: “I thought to myself, no, it’s not. That should be normal prep… If you’re interviewing somebody, you should really know almost the answers before you ask them, so that you know they're going to deliver value to your audience.” ([08:05])

4. How to Use AI Wisely for Interviews

• Better Prompts ↔ Better Interviews:
  • Instead of “Give me six questions,” try:
    “‘Give me six questions that [the guest] hasn’t been asked yet.’ Go there, then look if the answer delivers value to your audience.” ([06:30])
  • Creativity and effort are still required: “It sounds simple, it sounds easy, but it’s not. But it’s not impossible. It just takes a little time and a little creativity.” ([08:40])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Audio Quality:

  “Your guest has better audio quality than you do—it's time to buy a microphone.”
  — Dave Jackson ([07:49])

• On Repetitive Questions:

  “When the second, third, and fourth ask me the exact same questions, I’m going to feel less likely to share that because my audience already heard it once…”
  — Dave Jackson ([05:08])

• On Interview Preparation:

  “If you’re interviewing somebody, you should really know almost the answers before you ask them, so that you know they’re going to deliver value to your audience…”
  — Dave Jackson ([08:19])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:00 – Dave shares how he booked multiple guest spots with new podcasters.
• 01:28 – Audio quality issues highlighted and advice for new hosts.
• 02:48 – Re-reading bios and redundant opening questions.
• 03:20 – Repetitive “episode seven” question across interviews.
• 04:26 – Debunking the “get rich with AI and podcast guests” myth.
• 05:08 – Why guest repetition discourages promotion.
• 06:04 – Advice to do better research for unique interviews.
• 06:30 – Suggestions for better AI prompts.
• 06:46 – “Greatest hits” interview strategy with Justin Moore.
• 08:05 – Challenging the perception that thorough research is excessive.
• 08:40 – Closing thoughts on prep, research, and creativity.

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Final Advice

• Don’t rely solely on AI prompts—original, well-researched questions lead to engaging interviews and more willingness from your guests to promote your show.
• Upgrade your audio setup, especially as the host.
• Treat rigorous research as a baseline, not overkill—it’s what sets your podcast apart.

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For further resources or to learn from Dave, visit School of Podcasting and use the code ‘Listener’ for a discount.

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Transcript

[A]

Hey, before we start the show, I just want to let you know I'm starting a live six week class June 3rd. I'll tell you more about it at the end of the show. Using AI means you're as good as your prompt. And sometimes it's easy and it's used in the right way. And there are other times when it's just going to shoot you in the foot.

[B]

Welcome to your podcast consultant. Small lessons with big value. With more than a decade of experience and many millions of downloads, this hall of fame podcaster is a featured speaker, author, and mentor to thousands. Now he wants to work with you. He's your podcast consultant, Dave Jackson.

[A]

So I use a tool called PodMatch, along with some others to find people that want to interview me. And I logged in. Shame on me. It'd been a while and there were quite a few and I was like, oh, holy cow. And so I thought I would do something I've never done. And that was I scheduled a bunch of them almost back to back to back to back. I had four interviews in one afternoon slash evening. And I then, so I did this kind of backwards. I then after I scheduled it, looked at whose podcast did I just agree to? And I went, oh, these are like hot off the press's brand new podcasters. And I was like, okay, we're gonna have to give them a little grace right there. They're under 10 episodes. And I was amazed, kind of, but not really that their audio was horrendous. And I mean that with love and compassion. It's an easy fix. Go get a Samson Q2U microphone and plug it in. But using your built in laptop in what sounded like a room made of glass. It was just like on a scale from 1 to 10, it was about a 3. But again, new podcasters obviously hadn't gotten any kind of coaching and we did the interviews. But that's when something really strange happened. And I think I noticed this because I was simply doing these almost back to back to back. There was like a 20 minute break in between each one. And that was they were asking almost the identical questions, in fact, three of them. The third question was, so many podcasters don't make it past episode seven. What's the difference between a podcast that succeeds and one that fails? All of them ask that as question number three. The one I thought was interesting is they would read my bio from podmatch. So it makes me wonder if they had done any kind of research as to why they were having me on. And my bio Goes over, you know, the whole. I've been doing it since 2005, and I worked at Libsyn, I'm in the hall of fame, yada, yada, yada, Right? And then the very first question they would ask is, tell the audience a little bit about you. To which I kind of wanted to go, didn't you just do that? In fact, the one guy said, well, as you said, I started in 2005, and then I had to find something. Oh, I've also been coaching people technology for, you know, 30 years. But they all had almost identical questions, almost in identical order, to the point where I wondered, is someone teaching? Hey, this is how you make money in podcasting. There are places like Pod Match and Podcast guests of people just looking to be on shows. You go there, you have whatever, ChatGPT, some sort of AI tool, come up with some questions, you ask them the questions, you get tons of downloads, which you don't. We'll talk about that in a second. And you make tons of money. Well, that's not going to happen. And let me explain why. Number one, again, and I say this with love and compassion, they're new podcasters, but go buy a microphone because the one you were using sounded horrendous. Not just bad horrendous in multiple cases. And I was like, oh, okay. And again, they're new. But that would be my advice. And then if you want somebody to share the show, you have to ask different questions. And so let's say the first person that interviewed me, those were all great questions. When the second, third, and fourth ask me the exact same questions, I'm going to feel less likely to share that because my audience already heard it once from the first interview. So you have to come up with some different questions. Now, it doesn't have to be. Every question has to be different. And I've actually done that. I interviewed Justin Moore, who's the author of the book. The book? Yeah, the book sponsor, Magnet. And I did my research. I went and listened to, like, three or four different interviews. And when Justin came on, I said, hey, I. I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to run you through your greatest hits, because my audience hasn't heard those. Those answers yet. And when the episode came out, I said, here's the link. I understand. Again, if you remember, these are your greatest hits, meaning these are the answers you do all the time. If you want to share it, fine. If not, thanks again for bringing value to my audience. I did not expect him at all to share this. So this is where you have to come in with the right mentality, and that is if you want the guest. If you're having guests on your show to help grow your audience, you have to do the research and you have to do a different interview. And I just felt like they had just gone to ChatGPT and said, I'm interviewing Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting. Give me six questions. Because they were all almost identical. A better prompt would have been, I'm interviewing Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting. Give me six questions that he hasn't been asked yet. Go there, then look at those questions and go, would the answer to these questions bring value to my audience? And so I'm just wondering if somebody, some big marketer is now got a big bullhorn saying, this is how you make a podcast. Because I. Because I'm me, I guess I will share those episodes on social media. I don't know that I'm playing any clips of those on my show, because, again, the audio quality was not. My audio quality was fine. And that's, again, kind of a weird one. When your guest has better audio quality than you do, it's time to buy a microphone. But I will just say I will not promote them as heavily as I normally do. I will promote them a little because, again, I'm grateful that I was able to go on their show. But realize the best interviews are the ones where you've done the research. And I remember I was in a Reddit group and I was explaining when I was going to interview Justin Moore. I thought that was kind of a big deal. I knew he could bring value. And I listened to three or four episodes of Justin being interviewed because I wanted to know the answers, really, before I asked them, and then see if there were any questions that I could ask that other people didn't. And when I put that out in a Reddit group, somebody said, wow, that's some crazy prep. And I thought to myself, no, it's not. That should be normal prep. If you're interviewing somebody, you should really know almost the answers before you ask them, so that you know they're going to deliver value to your audience, because there's no sense asking them about something that, hey, this is way different. Nobody's asked you this question before. Yeah, but does it deliver value to your audience? So here again, it sounds simple, it sounds easy, but it's not. But it's not impossible. It just takes a little time and a little creativity. So if you need help with this, come visit me. Over at schoolofpodcasting.com use the coupon code Listener I'm Dave Jackson. I help podcasters. It's what I do. Been doing it for over 20 years and I can't wait to see what we do together because I want to be your podcast consultant. Are you dreaming of starting your own podcast but not sure where to begin? Podcasting in six weeks gives you a clear step by step path to go from idea to to launch with confidence. This practical course is designed to help you create, record, edit, publish, and promote your podcast in just six weeks. Now, whether you're starting from scratch or feeling overwhelmed by the technical side, you'll get the guidance, structure and tools you need to launch a podcast that sounds professional and reaches the right audience. When you're ready to stop overthinking. When you're ready to start podcasting, join Podcasting in six Weeks today and turn your voice, your ideas and expertise into a show people want to hear. The best part is it's only a dollar. Check it out. Classes start June 3rd. Go to schoolofpodcasting.com 6.