The key to expert interviews: channel your inner journalist
Insights from your subject-matter experts are valuable to your audience. They help you stand out and be seen as a real authority.
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. Let’s talk about what that involves.
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 highly able to steer the conversation and get your interview subject to open up and share valuable information.
Here’s how I interview experts to draw out the high-quality insights that will actually make an impression on B2B decision-makers.
1. Do the homework
I make sure I understand the client's wider messaging and the goals of the content before the interview. I also research the subject of the interview extensively. This allows me to guide the conversation effectively.
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 asking all of them - but it at least gives me a basic plan, and helps to clarify what I want to find out from the expert.
The best questions are:
Open-ended. "Tell me about a time when..." gets you stories and insights. "Do you think X is important?" gets you a plain yes or no.
Specific without being limiting. Instead of "What are the challenges in this area?" try "You mentioned that most companies get X wrong - what does that look like in practice?"
Provocative. Questions that challenge assumptions often lead to the most interesting responses e.g., "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 a fascinating tangent becomes the heart of the final content.
I use follow-up questions to dig deeper, e.g.:
"Can you give me a specific example of that?"
"Why do you think that happens?"
"That's surprising - how did you realize that?"
I also make it a dialogue. I'll push back gently when something doesn't make sense: "Interesting - but doesn't that contradict what everyone else in the industry is saying?" This back-and-forth often leads experts to articulate their thinking more clearly.
4. But know when to steer the interview
Letting the conversation flow doesn't mean losing control entirely. I make sure we don't go off into tangents, and will politely interrupt to get back on track.
I'll redirect 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 that will lose the audience
We're running short on time and haven't covered essential topics
The key is to redirect gracefully e.g. "That's really interesting - and actually, it connects to something I wanted to ask about..." Most interviewees appreciate this gentle steering.
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.
What to listen 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 what might seem like basic questions. Asking "Can you explain what you mean by that?" 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.