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The Knowledge Project · 3 min · Oct 27, 2026
The first two interview questions should show your preparation
Steven Kotler researches an interviewee's history and field, then opens with a detail that shows he knows both. He says asking for explanations without ego helps draw experts into the conversation.
Steven Kotler is a bestselling author and executive director of the Flow Research Collective.
Founded the Flow Research Collective and wrote bestsellers including The Rise of Superman and Stealing Fire.
Shane Parrish, Host · Founder, Farnam Street
Former intelligence agency employee; wrote the bestseller Clear Thinking.
About this segment
Steven Kotler researches an interviewee's history and field, then opens with a detail that shows he knows both. He says asking for explanations without ego helps draw experts into the conversation.
From “No.1 Flow Expert: How to Enter Deep Lock-In Mode”, Oct 27, 2026. Watch the full episode
Thanks. We'll look at and fix what's off.
“First question I ask always displays personal knowledge.”
Steven Kotlerat 45:48 · The Knowledge Project45:48Takeaways
- Research the person's life and work before the interview.
- Use your first question to show what you know about them.
- Ask for an explanation as soon as a term loses you.
In this episode
Full episode- 9:31A 4% challenge keeps you learning without snapping3:30
- 24:07Deliberate play can beat deliberate practice2:34
- 53:24Surfing gave Kotler moments of clarity during Lyme diseasePro pick 6:48
- 16:05ADHD focus improves when people find autonomy in the task5:05
- 6:13Your primary flow activity can train focus for work3:29
- 31:23Frustration can be a sign that learning is working3:58
44:53The first two interview questions should show your preparation2:31
- 51:05Protect early hours for difficult creative work2:42Up next
Transcript
Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.
- 44:59
which you've been doing. So like. But this is why you're the perfect person to talk to with your journal. Like, how do you pull out the best information from people? So this is how do you interview experts yeah right these are my roles um one i don't go into like if i'm being interviewed by somebody or even interviewing somebody i know i learn everything like everything i will know your hometown i remember um at one point i had to meet uh i can't remember the vodka company was the guy one of the big vodka companies i was interviewing him and i found out like not only was Did I find out what his hometown was?
- 45:35
I found out what the patron saint of his hometown was, and there was a statue, Saint Edwina. This is the patron saint of ice skating. It's still stuck in my brain. I can't even tell you what town it is. It was in Finland, I want to say. So, like, I'll go into the interview knowing all their work and a lot about them. First question I ask always displays personal knowledge. So you grew up in so-and-so, and when you were 10 years old, X happened.
- 46:02
something that like lets you know i know your history that's question one question two i'm going to always display domain knowledge about not just your like i'm going to display knowledge about your work but i'm going to put in domain context so david eagleman science writer right so david when you uh wrote incognito and you presented your information on synesthesia that's really interesting but it conflicts with what helmalt said back in blah i'll do that kind of thing so the first two questions i want to establish one i know you i know you and i know your work and i can speak your language so feel free to speak freely um i will i'm also always the first person to be like hey stop you're gonna have to explain that to me like i'm a four-year-old right i've got no i've got no ego like i love being the dumb guy in the room right love being
- 46:55
the dumb guy in the room and being able to be like, hey, how did that work? It's about sort of seducing your interviewee into flow, right? What you want is to interpersonal flow. What you're trying to get here is interpersonal flow, us to get so lost in the conversation that my filters come down and I'm willing to, you know, that's what, that's sort of what everybody's sort of going for. When you're interviewing experts and suddenly you're like, oh my God, you know my