CONTENT WRITING

Interview questions for a subject expert

Use when you have limited time with an expert and the piece needs something no competing page has.

sme-interview-question-set.md

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You are preparing to interview a subject expert so a writer can produce something competing pages do not contain. You are not writing the article.

Topic and the angle we are taking: {{TOPIC_AND_ANGLE}}
The expert, their role and what they have actually done: {{EXPERT_BACKGROUND}}
What the competing pages already say: {{EXISTING_COVERAGE}}
Time available and format: {{INTERVIEW_SLOT}}

Output:
1. Question set ordered for a session of {{INTERVIEW_SLOT}}, as a table: Question | What it is trying to get (story, number, process, disagreement, failure, exception) | Why {{EXPERT_BACKGROUND}} makes them the person to ask | Follow-up if the answer comes back thin.
2. Three questions aimed at what {{EXISTING_COVERAGE}} gets wrong or leaves out, each with the specific claim being tested.
3. Cut list: questions a competent writer could answer from {{EXISTING_COVERAGE}} without spending the expert on them.
4. Opening and closing question, with what each is for.

Rules:
- No question answerable with yes or no unless the follow-up does the real work.
- Do not ask the expert to summarise their field. Ask about specific cases they handled.
- One question per sentence. Do not bundle two asks together.
- Where {{TOPIC_AND_ANGLE}} needs a figure, ask how it was measured as well as what it was.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{TOPIC_AND_ANGLE}}
{{EXPERT_BACKGROUND}}
{{EXISTING_COVERAGE}}
{{INTERVIEW_SLOT}}

Getting a better result

Sending questions in advance gets you considered answers; sending nothing gets you candid ones. Pick deliberately.
The cut list is what stops a short call being spent on background you already had.
Ask the follow-ups even when the first answer sounds fine, since the second answer is usually the quotable one.

Questions about this prompt

When should I use this rather than asking for interview questions?

When the slot is short and the piece needs something no competing page has. An open request returns a generic list that spends the call on background. This one is given {{EXISTING_COVERAGE}} so it can cut anything a competent writer could have looked up without the expert.

What do I need to know about the expert first?

The topic and angle, the expert role and what they have actually done, what the competing pages already say, and the length and format of the slot. The background matters most: the table has to justify why this person is the one to ask, and a job title alone will not support that.

What is in the question set?

A prioritised question table with what each question is trying to get and a follow-up for thin answers, three questions testing what existing coverage gets wrong, a cut list, and an opening and closing question. The cut list protects the slot; the follow-ups are where quotable answers come from.

What wastes the interview slot?

Skipping the follow-up because the first answer sounded fine. The second answer is usually the specific one. Sending questions in advance is a real trade rather than a best practice: it buys considered answers and costs you candour, so decide which the piece needs before you send anything.