Global Social Entrepreneurship 1

Module 1: Designing Your Venture

Method B: Learn from Experts
Instructions:
Use this template to create an interview guide to prepare for your conversations. When you are writing
interview questions, remember to consider exactly who you will be speaking with. What knowledge will this
person have? What is the best way to communicate with them?

Step 1: Define Your Objectives

Why are you doing this research? What do you hope to learn?

Through my research, I hope to learn:

Step 2: Define Your Audience

Experts can give you a systems-level view of your project area, tell you about recent innovations—successes
and failures—and offer the perspectives of organizations like banks, governments, or NGOs. You will want to
choose experts based on your objective. Are you looking for someone with a radical opinion or do you want to
gain a historical overview of what has worked and what has not? Get a few different perspectives to balance
out your information. You might also look to experts for specific technical advice.

List the potential experts you plan to speak to and your reason for wanting to speak to them (e.g. what
you hope to learn from them).

Name Reason
 Global Social Entrepreneurship 2

Step 3: Plan Logistics

Once you have identified at least one individual to speak with, think about how much time you might need to
speak with her/him. Will you meet in person, talk on the phone, or use a video conferencing tools like Skype or
Google Hangouts?

Be sure to confirm plans with the individual prior to the interview and send a thank you note afterwards.

(Optional) Plans
• Date:

• Time:

• Location:

Step 4: Write Questions

Ask smart, researched questions and plan how you want the conversation to flow. Although you should come
prepared with an idea of what you would like to learn, make sure your plan is flexible enough to allow you to
talk about unexpected topics.

⇪ Your questions should relate back to the objectives you identified in Step 1.

Questions to Ask:

1. __________________________________________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________________________________________

5. __________________________________________________________________________________

6. __________________________________________________________________________________