source-interview-prep
Prepare a journalist to interview a source or subject — including hostile or accountability interviews. Use when a reporter needs to prep an interview with a source, plan questions for a subject, handle an on-the-record accountability interview, or get a reluctant person to talk. Produces a question plan sequenced from rapport to the hard asks, ground-rules handling (on/off record, attribution), techniques for evasive or hostile subjects, and a capture plan. Distinct from expert-interview-prep (learning from an expert).
Profile →npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill source-interview-prep --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Source Interview Prep Skill A journalistic interview isn't a friendly chat or a research call — it's an on-the-record exchange where the subject may have every reason not to answer straight. This skill preps the interview to get truthful, usable, attributable answers: rapport first, the hard questions sequenced so they don't end the conversation early, and a plan for the dodge. ## Working from a brief Given the subject and the story, **write the full prep** — infer where the subject is cooperative vs. defensive and sequence accordingly. Always handle ground rules explicitly; never counsel deception or entrapment. ## Required Inputs Ask for (if not provided, else infer and label): - **Who** you're interviewing and their **relationship to the story** (witness, expert, accountable party, whistleblower) - **What you need** — the facts, quotes, or confirmation this interview must produce - **The dynamic** — cooperative, reluctant, or adversarial; on/off record expectations ## Output Format ### Ground rules (settle first) On-the-record vs. background vs. off-the-record vs. not-for-attribution — define them, agree them up front, and note how you'll handle mid-interview attempts to go of
- Working from a brief
- Required Inputs
- Output Format
- Ground rules (settle first)
- Question plan (sequenced)
- Handling the dodge
- Capture plan
- Quality Checks
- Anti-Patterns
What does the source-interview-prep skill do?
Prepare a journalist to interview a source or subject — including hostile or accountability interviews. Use when a reporter needs to prep an interview with a source, plan questions for a subject, handle an on-the-record accountability interview, or get a reluctant person to talk. Produces a question plan sequenced from rapport to the hard asks, ground-rules handling (on/off record, attribution), techniques for evasive or hostile subjects, and a capture plan. Distinct from expert-interview-prep (learning from an expert).
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill source-interview-prep --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills, a repository with 1,255 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.