A hybrid interview-consultation format that makes the creator the learner, not the expert.

Source: This format comes from Caleb Ralston's consultation with Taki Moore. The conversation itself was an example of the format in action.

The typical content creator setup puts you in the expert seat. You know things, you teach them to your audience, they consume your wisdom. It works, but it has limitations.

What if someone else is the expert? What if you're bringing in people who know more than you do, in specific domains, and letting them teach you on camera?

"We call the format 'what should we do about blank?' And the blank is brand. What should we do about my brand?" Taki explained, introducing the format that emerged from exactly this need.

The result is content where the creator learns alongside the audience, instead of lecturing at them.

Why This Format Works

The standard expert format requires you to be the smartest person on the topic. That's constraining. Your content topics are limited to areas where you're genuinely authoritative.

The consultation format removes this constraint. You can cover anything you don't know yet, because your role is to learn rather than teach.

This changes the dynamic in several useful ways:

The audience learns with you. They're not watching someone teach; they're watching someone discover. This creates a different kind of engagement, more like being in a room where learning is happening rather than sitting in a classroom.

You can go beyond your expertise. Want to cover content strategy but you're not a content strategist? Bring in someone who is. Your authentic confusion and questions are features, not bugs.

The expert gets showcased. If you're bringing in clients, partners, or people in your network, they get positioned as the authority. You're making them look good while getting useful content.

Authenticity is built in. When you genuinely don't know the answers, the questions are real. Viewers can tell the difference between scripted curiosity and actual learning.

Structure: Bring In Someone Who Knows More

The format starts with identifying someone who knows things you don't. This could be:

A client with specific expertise. They know their domain deeply, and you can learn from their knowledge while showcasing their success.

A consultant or advisor. Someone you'd actually hire, doing a condensed version of what a real engagement would look like.

A peer with different specialization. Another operator in your ecosystem who's solved problems you're still facing.

An expert from a different industry. Someone whose knowledge transfers interestingly to your audience's context.

The key is genuine asymmetry. You actually know less than them about this topic. Your questions come from real curiosity, not performance.

The structure looks like:

1. Introduce the problem. What do you not know? What are you struggling with?
2. Introduce the expert. Why are they qualified to help with this?
3. Ask real questions. What would you actually want to know if you were paying for a consultation?
4. Let them teach. Stay out of the way. Your job is to ask good follow-ups, not to demonstrate your own knowledge.
5. Synthesize at the end. What did you learn? What will you do differently?

The authenticity comes from the fact that this is essentially a real consultation, just with cameras present.

The King Maker Position

There's a strategic element to this format beyond content creation.

When you position others as experts, you become the "king maker." The person who has access to the smartest people, who can bring wisdom to their audience, who operates at a level where these conversations are normal.

"This world, there's like this veil that people put over it," Caleb observed about the coaching and consulting space. The consultation format breaks that veil. Viewers see real expertise being applied to real problems.

Meanwhile, you're associated with that expertise without having to claim it yourself. You're the person who knows the experts, who can get them on camera, who makes the connection possible.

This is different from the expert position, where you're claiming authority. It's also different from the interviewer position, where you're just asking questions without personal stakes. You're genuinely trying to solve a problem, and you're bringing in someone who can help.

How to Film It

Practically, the format is simpler than most interview shows.

Minimal preparation. Unlike a podcast interview where you need to research the guest, you're coming in with genuine ignorance. Your preparation is knowing what you don't know, not preparing questions you already know the answers to.

Natural pacing. Because it's a real consultation, the pacing follows the actual learning process. You don't need to manufacture energy or create artificial structure.

Comfortable setting. The best versions of this look like two people having a working conversation, not a formal interview. Casual setup, natural environment, professional but not stiff.

B-roll optional. The content is in the conversation. You can add visual elements if it helps, but the format doesn't require elaborate production.

Multiple episodes per relationship. If you have genuine ongoing relationships with experts, you can return to the same format multiple times. "What should we do about X?" can become a series with each letter of the alphabet addressed by different experts.

The approach works particularly well for operators who are already having these conversations privately. All you're doing is recording what you'd do anyway, and turning it into content.