S2E360 How to Ask Great Questions - a Conversation with Ken Coleman

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Dec 30, 2025

Ken Coleman, bestselling author and popular radio host, shares his expertise on the art of questioning. He emphasizes how effective questions unlock deeper insights and strengthen connections. Coleman highlights the importance of curiosity, preparation, and the nuances of body language in communication. With anecdotes from memorable interviews, he illustrates how to engage guests and encourage them to reveal personal truths. Listeners are challenged to come up with one powerful question for their next conversation.

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INSIGHT

Questions Unlock Deeper Connection

Questions are the keys that unlock wisdom, knowledge, and deeper human connection.
Ken Coleman compares questions to keys and scalpels that reveal what someone truly thinks.

ADVICE

Frame Questions Around Want vs Need

Prepare by asking: what does the audience want to know and what do they need to know.
Use those answers to craft specific, framed questions that lead the guest to useful examples.

ADVICE

Lead Guests With Contextual Framing

Lead the interviewee toward the specific place you want them to go with a framed question.
Use leading context to help quiet or concise guests give richer answers.

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Ken Coleman, the bestselling author and a key radio personality for Dave Ramsey’s Ramsey Solutions, is known for his deep and insightful interviews with hundreds of major personalities including political figures, sports icons and titans of business. In this podcast episode of It’s a Good Life, host Brian Buffini turns the tables and asks Ken questions about how he became known as one of the country’s top interviewers.

Ken shares insights into how to ask questions that don’t just skim over a topic but get to the heart of what matters to the interviewee. He details how you can use these strategies in your own life to strengthen your own communications with others. He also describes how to use practical ways with your ears, eyes, face and body to relay honesty and interest to others that allow them to feel seen and heard.

YOU WILL LEARN:

How to ask questions that will go to the heart of a matter and deliver deeper insights.
Why background research is key before you have an important conversation with them.
How to use your ears, eyes, face, and body to understand others and show your commitment to them.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Buffini Coaching Live

NOTEWORTHY QUOTES FROM THIS EPISODE

“We need to understand that questions are the keys to unlocking any door we need to walk through.” — Ken Coleman

“My goal in every interview is to get someone to say, ‘I’ve never been asked that before’ or ‘I’ve never shared this before.’” — Ken Coleman

“Listen with your ears for tone, with your eyes for body language, with your face to mirror engagement, and with your body to show respect.” — Ken Coleman

“I'm going to listen with my eyes. And this is probably as important as the ears. I'm watching body language. I'm watching an uncomfortable shift or I'm watching the shoulders drop.” — Ken Coleman

“Confidence isn’t pre-loaded — it’s the consequence of a good conversation.” — Ken Coleman

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