A subject matter expert (SME) is … well, it’s probably exactly what you think it is: somebody with expertise on a given subject. Writers interview SMEs for a number of reasons, but they all revolve around learning about the SME’s knowledge and insights and translating that into reader-friendly content.
SMEs are experts in their fields, but they’re rarely expert writers. Interviewing SMEs enables content writers to disseminate expert knowledge to the target audience in an engaging and clear way. After all, writers are experts in writing, but they may not be experts in interviewing. But that’s OK — let’s go over how to interview an SME for an article.
Subscribe to
The Content Marketer
Get weekly insights, advice and opinions about all things digital marketing.
Thanks for subscribing! Keep an eye out for a Welcome email from us shortly. If you don’t see it come through, check your spam folder and mark the email as “not spam.”
What Are SME Calls For?
An SME interview can be key to the process of creating any number of assets. Writers often conduct SME calls in preparation for:
- Thought leadership pieces: These are blogs or other assets that share expert knowledge and insights on a specific topic, educating readers and establishing the SME as an authority in their space.
- Ghost-written content: When writing on behalf of the SME, it’s imperative to convey the information they know accurately.
- Case studies: It’s often necessary to interview a client and/or somebody within another organization to learn about the partnership you’re going to showcase.
- White papers and eBooks: These are often thought leadership pieces or marketing assets about one or more services your organization provides, and therefore may require in-depth knowledge.
There are also situations where an SME call may become necessary in the middle of a project. Sometimes there are quality concerns, usually at the beginning of a partnership or when a new writer comes onboard. The writer may have misunderstood a key aspect of the offerings they’re meant to be presenting or the industry in which they operate. An interview with an SME can clear up misconceptions and help the writer correct the errors.
Preparing for SME Calls
“If you fail to prepare, you are preparing to fail,” as Benjamin Franklin famously didn’t say. But somebody said it, and it makes sense. No matter how gifted you are in the art of improvisation, SME interviews require a concerted preparatory process. Here’s what you can do:
Write the Questions Several Days in Advance
Best practice is to give the SME a chance to read over the questions before the interview call. This isn’t always possible — you can’t control the interviewee’s schedule — but doing so gives them a chance to review the questions to ensure you’re on the right track.
If you’re approaching new subject matter, read over their existing case studies or thought leadership pieces to get a sense of the content and how they’re structured. It can also help to read up on the industry in which the organization operates so you have some foundational knowledge. As you do this research, you can jot down questions as they come to your mind.
Write Questions in the Context of the Piece
The number of questions you’ll need for a 500-word case study will differ from what you need for a 2,000-word white paper. Keep in mind the length of the piece and the call, and draft an appropriate number of questions. Try to estimate how involved the answer might be, and consider having some extra questions handy if your initial set didn’t provide as much information as you had predicted.
Don’t Forget Question Etiquette
SME calls aren’t exactly formal occasions, but they are professional calls. Let’s look at two example questions for interviewing a client’s client for a case study and see if you can pick out which one is more appropriate:
- Could you please provide an overview of Compu-Global Systems’ operations?
- So, what does your company do??
The difference may be subtle, but question one displays better etiquette. When in doubt, use the same tone you intend to when writing the final copy.
The SME Call
Let’s look at some tips to help you succeed during the interview itself:
Before the Call
As the interviewer, you’re driving the bus, so to speak. It’s key to remove as many potential distractions as you can. You can achieve this by:
- Putting your phone on Do Not Disturb or Work Mode.
- Finding a quiet room and closing the door.
- Rereading the questions one last time to prevent stumbling over any wording.
- Dressing appropriately.
- Ensuring there’s nothing distracting or unprofessional in your background.
- Using a reliable microphone and headphones. (Sometimes a writer’s laptop and environment are suitable enough that a microphone/headphones aren’t necessary, but they can help.)
- Having another window open with a Google Doc — or even a pen and pad — so you can take notes during the interview. Not all writers can take copious notes while interviewing, but it’s good to have the option so you can quickly jot something down if necessary.
It’s also important to ensure there’s a recording of the conversation, provided the interviewee is comfortable with that. An automated transcript can also prove beneficial when reviewing the answers.
Managing the Call
Before diving into the interview questions, it can be beneficial to put the interviewee at ease. Not everybody is comfortable with being interviewed. You can assure them that if you take any direct quotes, you’ll clean them up, so they don’t have to worry about saying “umm” or “uhh” too much.
It can also help to ask a broad, easy-to-answer question first to get the interviewee comfortable thinking and talking about the subject. Try to order the questions in a logical order, such as chronological or thematic, so the interviewee’s answers can organically flow from one to the other.
Keep in mind that the SME may answer part or all of a future question. In these cases, you can skip that question when you come to it, or tell the interviewee that they’ve already provided an answer but can expand on it if they wish. This approach can help foster a more conversational and comfortable interview. And don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions. Unless time is really tight, it’s good to pursue ideas you hadn’t thought of asking about before, but that come up during the interview.
Lastly, don’t be afraid of pauses. Sometimes in conversation, we rush to fill in gaps, fearing the silence may be awkward. A little awkwardness is OK; it would be worse to interrupt an interviewee’s internal thought process as they were considering their response.
Battling Nerves
For some gregarious types, SME interviews are nothing more than water off a duck’s back. For others, it can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially if they’re unaccustomed to conducting interviews. If you fall in the latter category, the first thing to remember is that the stakes really aren’t that high. Yes, an SME interview can lead to a valuable and important asset, but misspeaking or repeating a question during the interview won’t have any bearing on the final draft. So take a breath — you’ll get through this.
If the SME’s answers are short and seem to lack informational value, remember you can ask follow-up questions. This is where drafting backup questions beforehand can come in handy. And if you have the opposite problem and the client’s answers are too long for the time allotted, you can always ask if they can extend the call time. If not, you can agree to schedule another call or to have the SME answer the remaining questions over email.
And what if the SME thinks your questions are bad or that they reveal your ignorance of the industry? Well, this is why you send the questions to them in advance. If the interviewee didn’t look them over beforehand (or did and didn’t say anything), that’s on them.
In all honesty, they’re very unlikely to accuse you of lacking industry knowledge. After all, they’re the expert; you’re interviewing them for a reason. If you get the sense that the SME feels the questions are misguided, then ask them to add any missing information.
After the Call
Review your notes and reference the call recording when pulling quotes to make sure they’re accurate. If you don’t have an automatic transcript, you can feed the call recording to an AI tool, such as Google Gemini, to get a transcript. It won’t be perfect, but it makes it easier to scan through the interview to find the information you need.
It’s valuable to review the call soon after the interview, so you can send over follow-up questions if necessary. If there’s an outline phase for your project, you can leave notes or comments for the client to clear up anything that’s confusing you.
After all that, you’re ready to start writing. Now, you’re the expert.
