Encouraging new shoots (it's more of a houseplant question)

I've a few plants, like yucca type things, where there is a long woody stem and then a bush of greenery on the end. There's a constant dropping of old leaves and new ones appearing (why they do that, put all the effort into growing a leaf only to throw it off later, I don't know - some seem to do it more than others) which elongates the woody stems but doesn't make the plant look particularly "full".

Every now and then, spontaneously somewhere along the stem, it bursts open and a new shoot emerges

I'm wondering if anything can be done to encourage this process? I'd like to make some of the plants a bit more bushed out rather than them looking so lanky- is there a general technique for pot grown woody plants that encourages shooting? (Without cutting off an existing stem entirely)?