Subject matter expert interviews are a great way to raise your brand authority. Interviewing a subject-matter expert (SME) takes special skills. Below are tips to keep the interview on track.
Content marketing, especially interviews have a lot in common with traditional journalism. As a reporter might need to make half a dozen phone calls to understand the context and verify the accuracy of the story their writing, in the content marketing field, you’ll often need to tap into subject-matter expert (SME) knowledge to get to the heart of your subject, whether that means talking to an internal expert, an outside industry expert, or one of your business’ customers.
You’ll need to dive in deeply and get all the information you need to create a narrative that moves readers to action, whether you’re developing a ghostwritten thought leadership story, a solution-oriented white paper, or a case study.
When interviewing a subject-matter expert, consider their story in the context of the hero’s journey. Finding the professional triumph and adversity that defines their particular situation is part of the successful interview.
But what if your main character turns out to be a tough interview?
Here are three common reasons why a SME interview might go off track, and how to get it turned around:
1. SME is self-promotional
If you had a nickel for every corporate source who thought good content was a thinly veiled attempt at the hard sell of the core product offering, you'd be rolling in coin.
Often a SME is expecting that you want the party line, or even hoping that’s all you want, since that tired script is easy to recite and burned into their memory.
This pitfall is very common, in fact, that I’d go into the interview with SME, especially an internal SME, expecting that you will have to gently push them to drop the script.
Have a curious, critical interest while your SME is talking, and follow up on self-promotional stories by digging for the why, how and the outcome, conflict is not a bad things and brings the meat out of a story.
You should be looking for the problem and pain points in any story because it’s the problem that makes a story interesting and inspiring.
By geting to and digging into the pain points is where your SME learned the most.
Let's take this example, you are interviewing a SME who starts out the interview by continuing to talk about a big award the company and how this should lead to highest sales in the market sector. They are sayign the corporate bullet points how the team worked hard, best team ever, quality product, etc.
These are boilerplate accolades that a reader can recite with their eyes closed.
Your role is to get them past the corporate bullet points by digging deeper with questions similar to:
- What do you think specifically changed that lead to record sales?
- What specifically was different, how did X product or service increase revenue and how was your sales team able to implement so successfully? (The goal here is to get them to talk about what they’ve learned, and ask for details so they get specific otherwise you’ll end up with something bland like “We all just clicked, or our trainign department really stepped up.”)
- What are the three takeaways you think any sales team can learn from what went right last year? (Specifics make for strong content. Getting your SME to be very specific about lessons learned make the conversation more unique and more educational.)
2. They say something great followed by: “But you can’t use that”
Here’s another one that comes up all the time: Your SME tells you an interesting story — where something out fo the ordinary and unusual happened. The story is great—it’s got real and relatable pain points, showcases the company’s unique skillset and how they overcame the situation, and has specific and detailed lessons for the reader.
Then your SME stops you cold and says. “Too bad we can’t get into all that,” they say. “The company would get upset.”
Maybe it’s something that may be protected under a non-disclosure agreement, or it's a matter of the client’s vanity.
The SME doesn’t want to appear weak, or admit to mistakes, even though they help showcase the path their business has taken to overcome adversity.
How do you work out what the situation is, and salvage a great story that your SME doesn’t want to share publicly?
Here’s what to do:
- Ask what makes them reluct to share the story—are they worried about offending a client by mentioning them by name? Appearing weak? That they actually made a mistake? Is there something else that is particularly touchy? Rather than give in immediatly, ask if you can use it and only note what sector the company is in. If that’s still not agreeable, ask if you can turn the example into a hypothetical.
- If your SME still says you can’t use the quote, and assuming you haven’t exhausted their patience, level with them that this is a very compelling story that presents the company in an excellent light — is there a way to rework the story, while still be honest so that you can use it? What does your SME suggest? Bringing the SME in as an ally in figuring this out may motivate them to help you use it.
3. They’re loaded with jargon
Does your SME revert to industry jargon, where they are saying a lot but not, in words anyone outside the indiustry will understand?
Ask about more universal problems and solutions that will force them to talk more naturally withouth the jargon and will appeal to your audience.
Recall SMEs are busy people, and every second you waste on useless quotes is less time you have for the good ones.
Part of your job as interviewer is to help your source tell their story in the clearest way possible.
Be honest with them about this if necessary, with a question like, “Can you restate that for the layman who doesn't understand the jargon? I just want to make sure everyone understands this great information and its useful for all.
If there’s an important jargon that defiens a procedure or simialr that has to be used in your quote, always clarify it with a simple definition.
Another way to keep your quotes clear and simple is to make your questions clear and simple.
The founder of C-SPAN Brian Lamb once said, “My basic approach to interviewing is to ask the basic questions that might even sound naive, or not intellectual. Sometimes when you ask the simple questions like ‘Who are you?’ or ‘What do you do?’ you learn the most.”
Don't let your own ego lead — never underestimate the power of the simple question.
Wrapping it up
Leading a brief interview toward quote gold is not for the feint of heart and can be a tough job.
You need to do your research in advance and be prepared at the start and able to listen to your source while you keep the conversation moving.
To recap, here are the obstacles and roadblocks you may encounter, and tips on handling them:
- Keep your SME away from self-promotional boilerplate toward specifics about pain points and how they overcame them; in other words, the “conflict” in your story
- Resist throwing away great quotes that include sensitive information. Instead, work with your source to include as much information as you can.
- Make your audiene's job easy by including quotes with little to no industry jargon, even if your writing is for the industry. Simple, clear phrases make for strong writing. Ask your source to clarify for the layman anything you think might be confusing or to define the jargon into layman terms.
Practice these strategies until they’re second nature, and you’ll be well on your way to being not only an ace content writer but also an interview artist.