Engineers and technical consultants are busy. To get the “signal” without wasting their time, don’t ask them to “explain Cloud Security.” Ask these high-impact questions to extract the narrative gold.
This is the “Extraction Engine.” For a Content Lead, this script is the difference between a generic 60-minute “catch-up” that yields nothing and a 20-minute surgical strike that produces a year’s worth of high-authority content.
The 20-Minute SME “Signal” Interview Blueprint
The Extraction Script for High-Authority Positioning
The Objective: To move past what we do (commodity) and uncover why we do it differently (positioning).
The Pre-Flight (2 Minutes)
“Thanks for the time. I’m not here to ask you to write. I’m here to extract your ‘source code’ on [Topic] so I can translate it into a market-leading perspective. I have 5 specific questions. Ready?”
The 5-Question Script
1. The “Hype vs. Reality” Check
- The Question: “The market is currently obsessed with [Trend X]. From the trenches, what is everyone getting wrong about it?”
- The Goal: Uncover a contrarian viewpoint or a “myth” that your firm can debunk. This is the foundation of a Market Signal.
2. The “Hidden Friction”
- The Question: “When a client attempts [Project Y], what is the ‘invisible’ wall they hit that nobody warned them about in the sales process?”
- The Goal: Identify a specific technical pain point that resonates with the Technical Architect persona. This builds immediate trust.
3. The “Economic Consequence”
- The Question: “If a CIO ignores that ‘invisible’ wall for six months, what does it actually cost them in terms of speed-to-market or technical debt?”
- The Goal: Translate technical friction into Economic Impact. This provides the “hook” for the CFO and C-suite stakeholders.
4. The “Anti-Advice” (The Differentiation Trigger)
- The Question: “If you were sitting across from a friend who was about to hire a generic ‘big-box’ firm for this project, what is the one specific warning you would give them?”
- The Goal: To define your firm’s Positioning by describing what you are not. It highlights your unique methodology without sounding like a sales pitch.
5. The “Puck-Where-It’s-Going”
- The Question: “In 24 months, will we still be talking about [Topic], or will the conversation have shifted to something else entirely? What is that ‘something else’?”
- The Goal: To gather “Future-Proof” data that feeds your GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) strategy, positioning your firm as the definitive answer engine for the next wave.
The Post-Interview: From Raw Data to Narrative Architecture
Once the 20 minutes are up, the Content Lead’s job is to “Architect the Signal.”
- The Hook: Use the answer to Question 1 as your headline.
- The Friction: Use the answer to Question 2 to build a “Maze Map” for the buyer.
- The Stakes: Use Question 3 to justify the project’s ROI.
- The Stance: Use Question 4 to define your Positioning.
- The Modular Remix: Turn the transcript into one LinkedIn “Rant” (The Contrarian View), one Technical Lab Note (The Hidden Friction), and an Executive Briefing (The Economic Consequence).
The “SME Voice-to-Content” Master Prompt
You can put this prompt into an LLM along with the interview transcript to automatically draft the first version of these 3 modular assets.
This prompt acts as a virtual Narrative Architect, taking raw, unpolished SME expertise and instantly structuring it into the modular formats required by the Blueprint.
Stop wasting your SME’s time.
Get the ready-to-use interview script, the “Narrative Architect” LLM prompt, and a real-world example of how 20 minutes of audio becomes a month of high-authority content.