How to Prepare Better Interview Questions for Subject Matter Experts
Some of the best content comes from asking great questions to specialists in the field — individuals who know the ins-and-outs of their respective industry like no one else. At Comma, we conduct hundreds of interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs) each year or use transcripts provided by our clients to write content worth reading. Interviews with subject matter experts can provide valuable insights and unique, content-rich copy for your company.
Preparing in advance for these opportunities takes practice and honed skill. No two interviews are the same, and staying flexible to follow the natural flow of conversation can sometimes mean abandoning your planned line of questioning. Here are a few tips for nailing your next interview and developing top-flight content through the insights of a subject matter expert.
First, Understand the Subject Matter Expert’s Background
We’ve shared before about how to be a good interviewee, but now we’re looking at YOU, the curious interviewer. The easiest way to get a better interview is to ask better questions, which come through diligent preparation. Take time to explore your SME’s public body of work. A quick Google search can tell you a lot. For example, did the individual you’re about to interview recently deliver a guest lecture or hold a seminar on a specific topic? Have they authored any relevant articles or published a book?
Part of holding a successful interview is understanding how experts in their given spheres got to where they are now. (This does not mean extensively researching unrelated details of their personal life — don’t be a stalker.) This takes more than just “doing your homework” 15 minutes before a phone call — dig deeper into their industry, the insights they’ve provided on past occasions that could be expanded on in your own interview, and show you’ve taken the time to understand how to talk about the current events, philosophies, and shifts in trends regarding your topic. Taking time to prepare can be seen as showing respect for their level of mastery.
Treat the Interview as a Conversation
Being adequately prepared for an interview helps twice over. First, you’re able to quickly establish a measure of trust with your interviewee. Second, you’re able to facilitate a comfortable dialogue, without worrying about what questions you’ll ask. Of course you should come to the interview with questions prepared, but be open to exploring some thoughts more in-depth. If you’re asking open-ended, meaningful questions, the expert you’re interviewing will probably touch on a concept that warrants further clarification or leads to more interesting discussion. Be flexible enough to organically follow where the conversation leads, rather than rigidly sticking to your bulleted list of prepared questions.
Remember, they are the expert. You are here to learn. The whole purpose of sitting across from an industry expert, whether in person or over Zoom, is to reach a deeper understanding of ideas that took these specialists years of trial-and-error to discover for themselves. Their valuable experience makes for content-rich, in-depth and actionable advice, but only if you afford the interviewee the freedom to delve into specifics. Ask open-ended questions, really listen to the answers and follow where the conversation naturally leads.
Ask the Subject Matter Expert What They Want to Talk About
Even with your optimal preparation and top-notch people skills, the SME is going to have a lot more experience and knowledge in this area than can be covered in one interview (especially since you should generally be keeping interviews to 30 minutes or less). Leave plenty of time at the end after your own questions to discuss what they think is most important.
“What do you wish more people asked you about this subject?” can open entirely new doors as the expert gets a chance to discuss aspects of their field that excite or intrigue them.
One of the most difficult challenges of any interview (particularly in the Zoom era) is breaking SMEs out of “interview mode” and getting deeper, more thoughtful answers beyond the same ones they’ve given in countless interviews in the past. This is one of the simplest techniques for doing just that — asking what ideas, strategies, trends or philosophies they think deserve a greater emphasis than the industry is currently giving. Providing space for an interviewee’s passion to shine through will always elevate interview content substantially.
Remember: interviews are much more than the list of questions you come ready to ask. How you approach an interview can often dictate the quality of your content even more than the finer details of the subject you discuss. Familiarize yourself with the subject matter, the expert’s work, what questions the industry most needs answered, and follow the conversation wherever it leads.
Looking for help with subject matter expert interviews and content writing? At Comma, we specialized in well-researched, high-quality content. We’d love to chat and hear more about your content needs. Contact us today.
