Context: make the situation concrete
1. What was happening immediately before this problem became visible?
2. Who was trying to do what?
3. Which constraint mattered more than it first appeared?
4. What did you believe at the beginning?
5. What would an outsider misunderstand about the situation?
These questions give the audience a scene. Without context, even a correct lesson can sound generic.
Decisions: reveal judgment
1. Which decision was harder than it looked?
2. What were the two strongest options?
3. Which criterion decided between them?
4. What trade-off did you knowingly accept?
5. What would have happened if you chose the other path?
A useful decision answer names the alternatives and criterion. "We chose quality" is not enough; every option may represent a different kind of quality.
Evidence: support the claim
1. What did you observe, test, measure, read, or hear?
2. Which source would you show a sceptical reader?
3. Was this a pattern or one experience?
4. What evidence contradicted your first interpretation?
5. Which fact are you least certain about?
Ask the speaker to distinguish direct experience, data, inference, and opinion. A citation should support the sentence beside it, not decorate the article.
Process: make the work teachable
1. Walk me through the method step by step.
2. Which step do beginners usually skip?
3. What tool or artefact makes the process easier to inspect?
4. Where does the process require human judgment?
5. What does "done" look like?
Process questions turn "we have a framework" into something the audience can attempt and evaluate.
Failure and change: show learning
1. What failed first?
2. Which mistake taught you the most?
3. What did you stop doing?
4. What changed your mind?
5. Which part still does not work as well as you want?
Do not force every failure into a triumphant ending. An unresolved lesson can be more honest and useful than a manufactured success story.
Objections: add useful friction
1. What would a reasonable sceptic say?
2. Which criticism is partly right?
3. Why not use the obvious alternative?
4. What proof would change your view?
5. Which claim do people repeat about this topic that you would challenge?
Ask objections fairly. A weak opponent creates a weak answer.
Application: help the audience act
1. Who should use this idea?
2. Who should not use it?
3. What can someone try in the next 30 minutes?
4. What should they inspect before acting?
5. How would the advice change for a beginner?
The next step should match the evidence. One example rarely justifies a universal command.
Limits and future: preserve uncertainty
1. When does this approach fail?
2. What important context is missing from this answer?
3. Which part is prediction rather than current fact?
4. What would you test next?
5. When should this clip or article be reviewed for accuracy?
Limit questions protect the speaker from sounding more certain than the work allows.
How to choose the right questions
Start with one source object: a product page, project brief, paper, post, decision note, or customer-safe objection.
Then select:
- one context question
- two decision or process questions
- one evidence question
- one objection question
- one limit question
- one application question
That creates a balanced interview without exhausting the speaker.
Use follow-ups instead of more topics
When an answer becomes abstract, use a short follow-up:
- Can you give a specific example?
- What happened next?
- What made you believe that?
- Which option did you reject?
- What would make this wrong?
- What word did the customer use?
- Can you show the object or source?
A focused follow-up is often more valuable than moving to question 12.
Example sequence
Suppose an operator wants to explain a new approval workflow.
Ask:
1. What failed in the old process?
2. Which two options did you consider?
3. What evidence favoured risk-based routing?
4. Which criticism of the new model is fair?
5. When should a team keep the old process?
6. What can another operator inspect this week?
The answers can produce a coherent source: problem, options, evidence, objection, limit, and action.
Interviewer checklist
- Is the question based on real context?
- Does it avoid assuming the conclusion?
- Is it short enough to answer?
- Does it ask for evidence or an example?
- Can the speaker disagree?
- Are private details protected?
- Does the sequence include uncertainty?
- Will the answer remain accurate as a clip?
Google's people-first content guidance values first-hand expertise, original analysis, clear sourcing, and satisfying help for an intended audience. These questions can surface that material, but they cannot guarantee it.
Limits of a question bank
Forty questions are not forty posts. Asking all of them creates a tiring, unfocused session. Leading questions can bias the answer, and highly prepared prompts can flatten an unexpected insight.
Some subjects require a written method, live demonstration, or specialist review. The interview is a source, not automatic publication.
REC Content Studio prepares a tailored question path from the context a user supplies, records the person's solo answers, produces a transcript, and helps surface grounded highlight candidates.
Choose seven questions, not forty. Ask for the real decision and stay long enough to hear the specific answer.