The key to expert interviews: channel your inner journalist
In 2025, generic content doesn’t cut it if your goal is to be seen as a thought leader by sophisticated B2B decision-maker audiences. The internet is more saturated with content than ever before, leading to declining organic reach on LinkedIn and an increasing struggle to be noticed.
This high bar for content to resonate is why insights from subject-matter experts are so essential. When you inject expertise into your content, it becomes much more credible and original.
Instead of content that rehashes what everyone else is saying, you bring new knowledge and perspectives to your audience, which makes them perceive you as a real authority in your industry. This is why expert interviews are a crucial part of the thought leadership content process I follow with my clients.
But expert interviews don't automatically lead to compelling content. With the wrong approach, you can end up getting lost in technical rabbit holes, or having an awkward conversation where the expert doesn't share anything interesting.
To find an engaging story, you need to interview like a journalist. In this article, I’ll share what I’ve learned from doing interviews with dozens of subject-matter experts in complex, technical B2B tech areas.
The problem with most expert interviews
Here are the two biggest mistakes I used to make when it came to expert interviews, and that I think a lot of less experienced content marketers make too.
1. Getting lost in technical details. The expert starts diving into very complex information that only other experts would understand. You're not sure how to steer back to something your audience will actually care about, so you spend the whole interview getting lost in this technical rabbit hole.
2. Awkward interrogations. You stick rigidly to your prepared questions, turning what should be a conversation into an uncomfortable Q&A session. The expert gives you surface-level answers, but nothing they haven't said a hundred times before.
My journalistic approach to expert interviews
Neither of the approaches above gets you anything close to real thought leadership content. For that, you need to think like a journalist - and that means being able to steer the conversation and get your interview subject to open up and share valuable information.
Here’s how I go about having the kind of useful conversation with experts that leads to them sharing high-quality insights, which I can turn into content that will make a strong impression on B2B decision-makers.
1. Doing the homework
For an interview to lead to insights that are highly relevant to the content we want to create, I make sure I understand the client's product, messaging, and content marketing objectives before the interview.
I also extensively research the specific subject I’ll be discussing with the expert. This is essential for me to ask questions that draw out useful insights. Without this background knowledge, I’d risk wasting the time of the expert as they explain basic information I should have found out myself.
Before any interview, I think through: What story are we trying to tell? And how does the expert's knowledge tie into this story?
This means understanding:
The company's positioning and what makes them different
Who the content is for and what they care about
What's already been written on this topic (so you can ask better questions)
When you do this homework, you can recognize when the expert says something that fits into a compelling narrative - even if they don't realize it themselves.
2. Prepare questions in advance
I bring a list of 10-15 questions to an interview. I may not end up using them all, but having them gives me a basic plan for how I want to lead the interview and helps clarify what I want to find out from the expert.
The best questions are:
Open-ended. An open-ended question like "Tell me about a time when..." is better for getting your expert to share stories and insights. On the other hand, asking "Do you think X is important?" will probably get you a shorter and less useful answer.
Specific without being limiting. Instead of "What are the challenges in this area?", asking "You mentioned that most companies get X wrong - what does that look like in practice?" is more likely to get an answer sharing valuable real-life examples.
Provocative. Questions that challenge assumptions often lead to the most interesting responses. For example: "Everyone says X is best practice, but your approach is Z -why?"
3. Conversation, not interrogation
I bring these questions to the interview, but this doesn't mean I stick to them rigidly. I want a relaxed conversation - people don't share their most interesting opinions or knowledge when they feel interrogated.
The best expert interviews feel like a conversation between peers. When an expert mentions something unexpected or particularly interesting, I follow that thread. Sometimes an intriguing tangent becomes key to the final content.
I use follow-up questions to dig deeper, for example:
"Can you give me a specific example of that?"
"Why do you think that happens?"
"That's surprising - how did you realise that?"
I'll also sometimes politely challenge the expert, because people often share more stronger and more interesting opinions - which are key to engaging thought leadership - when presented with the counter-argument. I might say something like “Doesn't that contradict what everyone else in the industry is saying?", which can help the expert articulate what makes their thinking unique.
4. But know when to steer the interview
Letting the conversation flow doesn't mean losing control entirely, and I make sure we don't go off into tangents. I will politely interrupt to get back on track if:
We've spent too long on something interesting but not relevant to the content goal
The expert is going too deep into technical details which will lose the audience
We're running short on time and still haven't covered essential topics
The key is to move on to the next topic gracefully (e.g. "That's really interesting - and actually, it connects to something I wanted to ask about...") Most interviewees appreciate the need to keep the conversation on track and will respond positively to this.
5. Listen for the unexpected insights
Sometimes the most valuable insight in an interview is something the expert mentions casually, almost as an aside. They might not even realize it's interesting because it's obvious to them.
As the interviewer, your job is to recognize these moments and dig into them.
I especially look out for:
Contrarian opinions. When an expert disagrees with conventional wisdom, that's gold for thought leadership.
Specific stories or examples. Abstract principles become compelling when illustrated with real scenarios.
And don't be afraid to ask "Can you explain what you mean by that?" - this question can lead to them clarifying insights in a way that make the final content much stronger.
The bottom line: expert insights come from interviewing like a pro
As content marketers, we need to think like journalists - and find the story to tell about the company's expertise. This means interviewing like one, too.
So let the expert share their wisdom, but guide the conversation when you need to. Do your homework, prepare good questions, create a natural dialogue, and listen for the insights that matter.
That's how you turn expert interviews into thought leadership content that actually stands out.
Need a content marketer who knows how to interview subject-matter experts and turn their insights into compelling content? Get in touch to discuss your content needs.