Your company’s smartest people are also its busiest. And somehow, you need to turn what’s in their heads into content that builds your brand.
The problem? Every time you ask for their time, you’re adding to an already impossible workload. So they say yes reluctantly, show up unprepared, give you surface-level answers, and never want to do it again.
Here’s how to fix that.
The Real Problem (It’s Not What You Think)
Subject matter experts don’t hate helping with content. They hate:
- Vague asks with no clear outcome
- Last-minute requests that disrupt their day
- Feeling like they’re being interrogated
- Never seeing what happens with their input
- Having to write when they’d rather just talk
So stop asking them to write blog posts. Stop putting “draft thought leadership” on their plate. Stop treating them like freelancers with a side hustle.
Instead, build a system that makes contributing easy, fast, and actually kind of enjoyable.
The Three Systems That Actually Work
System 1: The Standing Interview (15 Minutes, Monthly)
Put a recurring 15-minute slot on their calendar. Same day, same time, every month. Frame it as “quick content check-in” not “we need you to create something.”
What you ask:
- What’s one question you’ve answered three times this month?
- What’s a misconception you keep correcting?
- What’s something that surprised you recently?
- What’s a mistake you’re seeing in the market right now?
Record it. Transcribe it with Otter or Descript. Pull out the best three quotes. You’ve got a month’s worth of social posts, one newsletter section, and fodder for your next blog.
Why it works: Low commitment, high yield. They talk, you capture. No homework for them.
System 2: The Async Video Drop (5 Minutes, On Their Time)
Set up a shared folder. Give them a simple prompt once a week via Slack or email. Ask them to record a 60-90 second response on their phone or via Loom.
Sample prompts:
- “Explain why [common practice] doesn’t work as well as people think.”
- “Walk me through how you’d approach [specific problem].”
- “What’s one thing you wish clients understood before they called you?”
Why it works: They do it when it’s convenient. No scheduling, no pressure. You get raw video you can edit into clips, quote cards, or transcribe into written content.
Pro tip: Give them three prompts at once so they can batch record if they’re feeling it.
System 3: The Ride-Along Repurpose (Zero Extra Time)
Your subject matter experts are already doing the work—sales calls, client onboarding, internal training, team presentations. You just need to capture it.
What to do:
- Record their next client demo (with permission)
- Sit in on a training session they’re running
- Ask to see the deck they presented at last quarter’s all-hands
- Grab the email they sent explaining a complex topic to a customer
Then repurpose it. Turn the demo into a how-to video. Pull the best slides into a carousel. Rewrite the email as a blog post under their byline (with their approval).
Why it works: They don’t create anything new. You just capture what they’re already saying and package it for external use.
The Golden Interview Script
If you do schedule a longer session (20-30 minutes), use this structure. It keeps things moving and surfaces usable content fast.
Opening (2 minutes): “We’re building content around [topic]. I’m going to ask you a few questions—just talk like you’re explaining this to a smart client. Don’t worry about being polished, I’ll clean it up.”
Core Questions (15 minutes):
- What’s the most common question you get about [topic]?
- What do people get wrong?
- Can you walk me through a recent example where you helped someone with this?
- What’s the one thing you’d want people to know before they [make a decision/invest in this/implement this]?
- What’s changing in this space that most people aren’t paying attention to yet?
Closing (3 minutes): “If you were me, what content would you create to help someone like [target audience]?”
Record everything. Pull quotes. Use their exact language. You’ve just built a content brief, three social posts, and a blog outline.
How to Turn One Conversation Into Six Weeks of Content
Here’s the repurposing playbook:
From one 30-minute interview, you get:
Week 1: Publish the full transcript as a Q&A blog post
Week 2: Pull the best quote and turn it into a LinkedIn post with their photo
Week 3: Create a 60-second video clip answering the most common question
Week 4: Write a short “notes from the field” piece expanding on their example
Week 5: Turn their main insight into a visual quote card
Week 6: Drop their answer into your newsletter with a “our team weighs in” intro
One conversation. Six touchpoints. Zero additional asks of your subject matter expert.
The Follow-Up That Keeps Them Engaged
After you publish something using their input, send them a quick note:
“Hey [name]—we just published this based on our conversation last month. It’s already getting great feedback from [specific audience]. Thanks for making time.”
Include the link. Show them the impact. Make it easy for them to share if they want to.
Why this matters: Subject matter experts will keep contributing if they see their ideas being used well. If content disappears into a black hole, they stop caring.
The Don’ts (Things That Kill Subject Matter Expert Momentum)
Don’t ask them to “review” content unless it’s truly necessary. They’ll rewrite everything and slow you down.
Don’t schedule hour-long sessions when 15 minutes would work. Respect their time more than they expect.
Don’t make them feel like they’re doing marketing a favor. Frame it as: “You’re already the expert—we’re just helping more people hear what you know.”
Don’t ghost them after the interview. Close the loop. Show them what you made.
Don’t burn them out by going back to the same person every week. Rotate through your internal experts so no one feels overused.
Start With This
Pick one subject matter expert. Not the CEO, not the CMO—someone who actually does the work and talks to customers regularly.
Send them this message:
“I’m working on [specific content project] and would love 15 minutes of your brain. I’ll ask you 3-4 questions, record it, and turn it into content. You won’t need to write anything or prep—just talk like you’re explaining this to a client. Does [specific time] work?”
Record the conversation. Transcribe it. Pull the best quotes. Publish something within a week. Send them the link.
Do that once, and you’ve built a template you can repeat forever.
The Bottom Line
Your subject matter experts have the content. You just need a system to capture it without making it feel like work.
Keep it short. Keep it conversational. Keep it easy. Show them the results. And never, ever ask them to write a blog post from scratch.
Do that, and you’ll turn internal expertise into a content engine that runs without burning anyone out.
The gold is already there. You just need a better way to mine it.