45 Questions to Ask Guest Speakers (Before, During & After Class)

A guest speaker session lives or dies on the questions. A room full of prepared, curious students turns a routine visit into the class everyone remembers; a silent room turns an expert's hour into an awkward monologue.

This guide covers three sets of questions: what you should ask the speaker before they arrive, what students should ask during the session, and what to ask afterward to close the loop. Use it as a checklist, or share the student section directly with your class the week before the visit.

Questions to ask a guest speaker before the session

These are for the professor or organizer. Ten minutes on a call (or one well-structured email) prevents almost every way these sessions go wrong.

1. What topics are you most comfortable — and most excited — to speak about?
2. Would you prefer a prepared talk, a fireside-style Q&A, or a mix?
3. How much time do you want for audience questions?
4. Is there anything you can't discuss publicly (confidential projects, employer restrictions)?
5. What do you wish someone had told you when you were in these students' seats?
6. Can students connect with you afterward — LinkedIn, email, office-hours style follow-up?
7. Do you need slides reviewed, A/V checked, or a virtual link tested in advance?
8. How should I introduce you? (Ask for a 2–3 sentence bio — it beats reading their LinkedIn aloud.)
9. Is it okay if we record the session for students who can't attend?
10. What would make this worth your time? (Speakers have goals too — recruiting, visibility, giving back. Knowing theirs helps you deliver.)

Questions for students to ask guest speakers

Share these with your class beforehand and ask every student to bring two questions. Grouped by theme so students can pick what genuinely interests them.

Career path questions

11. How did you get your first job in this field — and would that path still work today?
12. What do you know now that you wish you'd known at graduation?
13. What was the most useful class you took — and the one that turned out to matter least?
14. Was there a moment you almost quit or changed direction? What kept you in?
15. How did you decide between specializing deeply and staying a generalist?
16. What does the promotion path actually look like in your field?

Day-to-day reality questions

17. Walk us through a typical Tuesday. What do you actually do all day?
18. What does your team look like, and who do you work with most?
19. What's the most misunderstood part of your job?
20. What tools do you use daily that we probably aren't learning in school?
21. How much of your work is the "core skill" versus meetings, writing, and persuasion?

Industry and trends questions

22. What's changing fastest in your industry right now?
23. How is AI actually changing your work — beyond the headlines?
24. What skill will matter most in this field five years from now?
25. What's a common belief in your industry that you think is wrong?
26. If you were starting a company in this space today, what would it do?

Advice questions

27. What separates the interns and juniors who thrive from the ones who don't?
28. What should we be doing this semester to be competitive for jobs in your field?
29. How do you evaluate whether a company is somewhere you'd want to work?
30. What's the best career risk you ever took?
31. If you could redo your twenties professionally, what would you change?

Closing questions

32. What's one thing you hope we remember from today a year from now?
33. Who else should we be learning from — people, books, podcasts?
34. How can students in this room be helpful to you?

Questions to ask after the session

35. (To students) What surprised you most about what the speaker said?
36. (To students) Did anything contradict what we've covered in class? Let's dig into that.
37. (To students) What would you ask if they came back for a second hour?
38. (To the speaker, in your thank-you note) Would you be open to coming back next semester — or referring a colleague?
39. (To the speaker) Can we share your contact or LinkedIn with students who asked?
40. (To yourself) Did this session advance the course's learning goals — and what would you change next time?

Five questions to avoid

41. Anything answerable by the speaker's LinkedIn profile ("So, where have you worked?").
42. "What's your salary?" — frame it as ranges for the field instead (see #43).
43. Better: "What should someone entering this field expect to earn in years one through five?"
44. Hyper-specific personal requests ("Will you refer me?") — save those for follow-up.
45. Questions with no question in them. Coach students: one sentence of context, then the ask.

How to set students up to ask great questions

Three practices that consistently work:

• Assign question prep. Two questions per student, submitted the day before. You'll spot duplicates and can seed the best ones with specific students so the opening minutes aren't silent.
• Give the speaker the theme list. Speakers relax when they know what's coming — and prepare better stories.
• Let students go first, not last. Q&A crammed into the final five minutes signals it's an afterthought. Great sessions are 50% conversation.

Bring a speaker worth questioning

The best questions in the world can't fix a mismatched speaker. If you're still looking for the right person, browse guest lecturers by topic on OpenLecture — from AI and machine learning to marketing and healthcare — or see virtual guest speakers who can join any class over video. Introductions are free for universities.

For the fuller playbook on sourcing and structuring the visit, see our guides on how to find guest speakers for your college class and how to give a great guest lecture (worth sharing with your speaker, too).