The most interesting expert is usually not the most visible one. Visibility measures marketing, not knowledge.
Define the expertise you need
Write the question you want answered, then ask who does this work every day. A practitioner explains what actually happens. A commentator explains what people say happens. Both have a place, but they are not interchangeable.
Where to look
- Directories and profiles where people list the topics they can speak on.
- Professional bodies, trade associations and standards organisations.
- Authors of specific papers, reports and technical documentation.
- Trade press, which covers working professionals rather than celebrities.
- Recommendations from previous guests, who know their own field.
- Open calls describing exactly the expertise and the episode.
Verify before you book
Check that the claimed experience is real and current: where they work or worked, what they actually did there, and whether they are describing first hand work or a role adjacent to it. Ask directly what part of this they have done themselves. Honest experts answer that question comfortably and will happily tell you where their knowledge ends.
Watch for conflicts
Ask whether they sell something related to the topic, who funds their work, and whether they represent an organisation's position. Disclose it on air. This is not hostility; it is basic practice, and good guests expect it.
Approaching people who are not media trained
Many of the best guests have never done an interview. Reduce the fear: explain the format, the audience size honestly, the editing, and that they will not be ambushed. Offer to send topics in advance. Say how long it takes and that they can stop.
Prepare them, do not script them
Send three or four areas rather than exact questions. Exact questions produce rehearsed answers. Areas produce prepared thinking, which is what you want.
Build a bench
Keep a list of verified experts by topic, with notes on how they speak and what they are good on. Over time that list becomes the most valuable asset a show owns, because it turns a scramble into a phone call.