What is a fireside chat? How to host one, with 40 questions to ask

A fireside chat is a relaxed, conversational interview between a host and a guest in front of an audience. There are no slides and no prepared speech. The host asks questions, the guest answers in their own words, and the audience usually joins in with questions at the end.

The name comes from the radio talks US President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave in the 1930s and 1940s, which were meant to feel like a conversation in someone's living room. Today fireside chats are a staple of conferences, company all-hands, webinars, book launches and community events.

Fireside chat vs keynote vs panel

How to host a fireside chat

Before the event

1. Agree on the goal. What should the audience walk away with? A story, a lesson, a decision explained? Everything else follows from this.
2. Talk to the guest beforehand. A 20-minute call is enough. Find two or three stories they love telling, and anything they won't discuss.
3. Write 10 to 15 questions, and expect to use 6 to 8. Group them into an opening, a middle and a close. Share the themes with the guest, not the exact wording, so answers stay fresh.
4. Collect audience questions early. Ask people to send questions when they register. It shows you what they care about and gives you a backup if the room is quiet.
5. Set up the space. Two comfortable chairs angled toward each other, a small table, water. Online, both cameras at eye level with similar lighting.

During the event

6. Open warmly and briefly. Introduce the guest in two or three sentences, not their full biography.
7. Start with an easy question. Something personal and light gets the guest relaxed and the audience interested.
8. Follow the answer, not the list. The best moments come from "Tell me more about that." Your list is a safety net.
9. Keep your own answers out of it. You're the host. Short questions, long answers.
10. Bring the audience in. Run a quick poll in the middle, or open questions for the last 10 to 15 minutes.
11. Close on time with one forward-looking question. "What's one thing you hope people here do next?" ends on a clear note.

After the event

12. Thank the guest publicly and privately.
13. Share the key takeaways with attendees, with the questions you didn't get to.

Fireside chat questions

Opening questions

1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
2. What does a normal day look like for you right now?
3. How did you end up doing what you do today?
4. What's something people would be surprised to learn about you?
5. What's been on your mind most this month?
6. What's the best advice you've ever been given?
7. Who has influenced your career the most?
8. What's a book, podcast or idea that changed how you think?

Questions for leaders and executives (company all-hands and town halls)

9. What are you most excited about for the year ahead?
10. What's the biggest challenge we face as a company, and how are we approaching it?
11. What decision this year was hardest to make?
12. What's something you changed your mind about recently?
13. How do you decide what not to do?
14. What does great work look like here?
15. What do you wish more people across the company knew?
16. How do you stay connected to what's happening on the ground?
17. What's a mistake you made that taught you something?
18. What would you like every team to focus on this quarter?

Questions for experts and authors

19. What problem were you trying to solve when you started this work?
20. What's the most common misunderstanding about your field?
21. What's one idea from your book or research you'd want everyone here to remember?
22. What did you get wrong at first?
23. What's changing in your field right now that most people haven't noticed?
24. What's a simple thing people could try this week?
25. Who's doing interesting work in your field that we should know about?
26. What question do you wish people asked you more often?

Questions about career and lessons learned

27. What's a turning point in your career?
28. What's one skill that mattered more than you expected?
29. How do you handle setbacks?
30. What would you tell yourself ten years ago?
31. How do you make time for learning?
32. What does success mean to you now, compared to when you started?
33. What's the best decision you made early on?
34. How do you build a team you trust?

Closing questions

35. What's one thing you hope people here do after today?
36. What are you looking forward to next?
37. What's a question you'd like to leave the audience thinking about?
38. Where can people follow your work?
39. If you could ask the audience one question, what would it be?
40. What's the one sentence you want people to remember from today?

Bringing the audience in

The biggest risk in a fireside chat is that it becomes a conversation the audience only watches. A few ways to keep them involved:

• Open with a poll. "How long have you been at the company?" or "Which of these topics matters most to you?" tells the host and guest who's in the room.
• Collect questions throughout, not just at the end. People forget their question by the time Q&A opens.
• Answer the questions that matter most. Group similar ones and take the most common first, not the first hand up.

On Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, Claryoo gathers every question from the chat and the conversation onto one board, longest wait first, so the host can see what the audience is asking while the chat is running. Live polls run in the meeting chat. At an in-person event, people answer and ask on their phones by QR. See Claryoo for speakers.

FAQ

What is a fireside chat?

A relaxed, unscripted conversation between a host and a guest in front of an audience, without slides or a prepared speech. It usually ends with questions from the audience.

Why is it called a fireside chat?

It comes from the radio broadcasts US President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave in the 1930s and 1940s, which were meant to feel informal and personal, like a talk by the fire at home.

How long should a fireside chat be?

30 to 45 minutes is typical: about 25 to 30 minutes of host questions and 10 to 15 minutes of audience questions.

How many questions do you need for a fireside chat?

Prepare 10 to 15, expect to use 6 to 8. Good follow-up questions take time, and that's where the best moments come from.

What is the difference between a fireside chat and a panel?

A fireside chat is a conversation between a host and one guest. A panel has a moderator and several guests who each give their view. Fireside chats go deeper with one person; panels show several perspectives.

Can you host a fireside chat online?

Yes. Keep both speakers on camera at eye level, collect questions in the chat throughout, and use a poll or two to keep the audience involved.

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