By Joe Wallace

If you feel daunted by the prospect of writing an article in an area you know little about, don’t let that lack of knowledge keep you from sending out query letters. Try doing a few interview pieces with some subject matter experts and let them do all the talking about the facts and figures of your new subject matter area.

This is one of the easiest ways to get up to speed on a new topic. Once you’ve done a couple of interviews you’ll have a much better feel for the subject and can talk with more authority on your own–especially if you ask the right questions in your interview. Here are a few of my own personal secrets for getting the right information to help me learn the most about a new subject in the shortest amount of time. Ask the following questions in your interview and you’ll soon be enlightened:

1. Explain this subject in layman’s terms. How can the average person understand this subject?
2. What are the most important recent innovations or changes that have affected the topic?
3. What technological concerns are addressed by those recent innovations?
4. Over the history of this topic, what’s the most important change or alteration?
5. What’s the short and long term future of this topic? What are the today’s pressing issues?
6. What’s become obsolete or irrelevant on the subject based on what’s already been discussed in the interview?
7. What’s the interviewee’s personal role here? Where do they see this subject going–at least where they are concerned?