The healthcare space is complex. To develop quality content for your healthcare brand, it’s often necessary to conduct interviews with subject matter experts, also called SMEs. Subject matter experts are highly educated professionals who have advanced knowledge and experience in a specific area. From healthcare business executives to clinical leaders like physicians, they are uniquely qualified to offer insight and guidance that can drive marketing and communication efforts.
Interviewing SMEs takes skill, thoughtful planning, and practice. Preparing in advance for these opportunities will help you unlock key insights from your experts to inform the development of unique stories and content. As a highly specialized healthcare communications agency, Activate Health has collaborated with our clients to conduct hundreds of SME interviews, gleaning the latest and greatest to keep their brands front and center.
In the healthcare space, there are many brilliant people with deep expertise in different areas, and each has a unique perspective to share. When conducting interviews with executives, clinical experts, or other SMEs, consider following these best practices to ensure your interviews are successful and run smoothly.
Do your research
Since executives, clinicians and other leaders likely have busy schedules, being prepared to speak with them is an important way to show respect for their time and build rapport. Start by researching your SME’s professional background. Gather and review information about their public body of work. Have they recently contributed to articles or authored a book? Do they deliver guest lectures or frequently speak on a specific topic? These insights can provide context about your expert and help you craft informed interview questions of your own. LinkedIn is also a good resource for discovering additional details about your SME’s career path and experience.
A word of caution when researching: be sure to keep your findings professional. There’s no need to dig into unrelated details of their personal life, and doing so can make others uncomfortable. Stick to relevant information when preparing for an interview with an SME. By doing your due diligence to learn about the SME and their contributions to their field, you are laying the foundation for a successful, informative interview.
Prepare your SME
Subject matter experts have varying degrees of experience and comfort being interviewed. You may find yourself working with a seasoned contributor who frequently spends time in front of a camera, or with a person who is highly knowledgeable but unfamiliar with the interview process. No matter who they are or what their background is, your role as an interviewer is to set them up for success. Prepping your SME helps ensure they can communicate their deep expertise effectively.
These tips from our healthcare communications agency pros will prepare your SME for a great interview:
- Provide a clear overview of the interview objectives and the target audience of your deliverable, which will help the SME tailor their responses to the appropriate level of complexity.
- Share the questions and topics that you plan to cover in advance to allow the interviewee to prepare their answers.
- Advise your SME on the format of the interview so they understand what to expect. Whether you’re interviewing via phone, video call, in person, or some other way, keeping your expert informed allows them to focus on their answers.
How to ask the right questions: Healthcare communications agency tips
A successful interview boils down to asking the right questions in the right way. By learning how to ask great questions, you can tap the deep expertise of your SME and create fresh, engaging content for your brand. Consider these best practices to draw out insightful information from your experts that will engage your audience.
- Keep the goal in mind. Clearly define what you want the audience to learn from the interview. Each question should be a step towards this goal. If the objective is to explain a complex healthcare policy, structure your questions to simplify and demystify the topic.
- Ask open-ended questions. Encourage elaboration by phrasing questions that require more than a yes or no answer. For example, “Can you describe the impact of recent healthcare reforms on patient care?” invites expansive answers filled with personal insight.
- Remember who your audience is. The SME’s expertise needs to be translated into language and concepts that your audience understands. Ask questions that bridge the gap between expert knowledge and audience awareness.
- Tell a story. Arrange questions in a logical sequence that tells a story. Start with broader topics to establish context before zeroing in on specifics. This helps the SME provide a narrative that is digestible and compelling.
- Encourage examples. Ask for anecdotes or case studies. Real-life examples are gold in interviews as they make abstract concepts concrete and relatable for the audience.
- Listen actively. A successful interviewer listens intently, not just for the answer but for the follow-up that wasn’t planned. Follow-up questions often uncover the most valuable insights because they are driven by curiosity sparked in the moment.
- Be prepared but stay flexible. While you should go into an interview with a well-researched plan, don’t be too rigid. The ability to pivot and explore unexpected avenues can lead to rich and dynamic content. No two interviews are the same. Be flexible and allow the conversation to flow naturally. This sometimes means abandoning your planned line of questioning, but it can yield excellent results.
By integrating these strategies into your interview preparation, you create an environment where your SME can shine. This approach fosters content that is not only authoritative but also accessible, driving value for your brand and also for your audience.
At Activate Health, our focus is on helping healthcare brands translate complex stories into messages that resonate. Our specialized team of strategists, writers, and account and PR specialists are skilled at working with SMEs to tell the stories that matter. If your organization is interested in partnering with our healthcare communications agency for content development, contact us today.