Remember the popular phrase we learned as kids, “Garbage in, garbage out,” in computer classes. If you put in the wrong inputs, in most certainty, you will get the wrong output. This exact principle applies to all of the communication that we engage in. If you ask the wrong questions, you will be getting the wrong answers or the answers you are not looking for.
Most of us fail to acknowledge the real power that lies in the art of questioning. It is simply not about just inquiring from someone. It is much more profound. Asking the right question is at the heart of communication. By just merely asking questions effectively, you can transform the entire communication for much better. For example, effective questioning can make you a better listener, helps you build deeper relationships, help you manage things better, and of course, enhance learning.
In this article, we will learn about various effective questioning techniques and types of questions. Ways we can leverage the power of questioning and increase our knowledge and improve our communication skills. Also, we will focus on how to use and when to use these techniques.
Open and Closed questions
Questions can be largely be categorized into 2 parts: open and closed types of questions. A closed question is one that elicits an objective, factual, and concise response. For example, “Are you tired?” the answer would be either “Yes” or “No” or “Where do you put up?” this would involve you to mention a definite address of the place you live in.
Open questions, on the other hand, are answered in greater detail. They are more subjective and sometimes open to interpretation. These question usually starts with What, Why, How, etc. These types of questions gauge the respondent’s knowledge and depth of understanding of things. Things like “Tell me more,” “Help me understand it better,” and “Describe” can also be used to ask open questions. Some examples are:
- Describe the situation at the site?
- What happened on your birthday?
- Why are you sad?
- How was your trip to England?
Advantages of open questions:
It helps in opening up conversations to people and making them talk about what they want to talk about. For example, you can ask, “How was your trip that you recently took?”
Drilling deeper into something can be done when we probe and ask the right kind of open question like “What else is required for me to know before I give my presentation?”
Open questions can also greatly help in knowing the other person’s opinion and you can do so by asking “What is your take on the new economic policy?”
Advantages of Closed questions
Highly beneficial to know the understanding of the other person. For example: “If I finish my projects on time, will I be considered for promotion?”
Helps greatly in concluding a matter, which you can do by saying, “Are we all clear on the facts and agree to move forward with the said plan of action?”
To get feedback and take inquiry about services like “Are you happy with the performance of your newly bought laptop?”
Funnel Question
This is a technique in which you start by asking a broad question and then narrow down to the specifics with every subsequent question. Usually, you seek minor details in these cases in the area of your interest. Detectives often use it to interrogate witnesses. Follow the conversation below to get a better understanding of how it is done.
“Where were you around 10 pm yesterday?”
“At the Bar.”
“Did you witness a fight there?”
“Yes.”
“What was the age of people fighting according to you?”
“16-22 years old.”
“Was there anything that you found distinctive in their clothes?”
“Yes, all of them wore a red jacket.”
“Do you remember the brand of the jacket?”
“Yes, it had a leaping cat logo on it.”
This type of questioning makes the other person relive the moment. The details that you got out of this questioning are of the level that you see in CCTV. Now imagine if you would have been able to make the person remember things in this much detail. If you would have asked, “Are there any details that you would like to highlight?”
Make sure you start with a closed-ended question and then go to the open-ended question following the funneling technique of questioning. This technique is really advantageous for 2 primary reasons:
- Finding the information in great details
- Gaining the confidence of the person by showing that you are keen to know what they are telling you
Probing Technique
This is a strategy to find out greater details and gain clarity about any situation. Sometimes a probe question could be just asking for an example to complement what you are saying. Often, it is asking questions to seek additional information and form insight based on that. It can also be used to investigate if there is proof of what is being said or shown. There is a unique yet popular method for probing called the 5 WHYs method. It helps you drill down and get to the roots of the problem. Another common method is by adding the word “exactly” to probe further. “Why exactly do you need him to be in that meeting?” “Why exactly are you asking me for the reports when there are 10 other members of the team?” The following are the 2 advantages of probing questions:
- Gaining clarity ensures that you are on the same page with others in terms of understanding the subject.
- Another great advantage of it is that it is used to elicit information from people trying to avoid telling you information.
Leading Questions
These are the type of questions that lead you to a particular direction or type of response. You can do this in the following ways:
With an assumption: “How bad is the feedback that you got?” This shows that the speaker has assumed that the other person will certainly get poor feedback.
Adding a preference: “Do we take Shreya along or someone else?” It just shows that we prefer one over the other(s).
Phrasing the question in the way that it elicits a “YES”: We humans are more likely to say “Yes” than “No.” It is largely determined by how we phrase the question “Are we all good with option two” is more likely to attract a yes “Should we go with option two or not?” A great way of doing it is by making it personal. For example- “Would you like me to fix Saturday afternoon for the meeting?”
Making people a choice between two things: This is when you deliberately put things into binary, and both the options are serving you in some way. You make the other person choose between A or B, not giving the explicit option to choose neither. Making people chose between two options and got caught up between the two.
This leading question strategy is advantagious if:
- You want a particular set of responses desperately
- Bargaining
- Closing a contract/sale
One important thing to note here is that you should use leading questions with utmost care. If you use this technique for your personal motives and harm the other person’s interest, it will make you come across as a manipulative and dishonest person.
Rhetorical Questions
These are the only type of questions where the other person is not expected to answer at all. These are just the statement phrase in the form of a question. A rhetorical question is a great tool for making people come and agree with you. Often these are used in strings to make a greater impact like “Don’t you like the features of this car?”, “Isn’t it the best infotainment system in any car” “Wouldn’t you like to see it in your car as well?”.
Great questioning tips to follow
We all ask questions all the time, but how often do we question how we question. I am sure it is not a part of your routine, the kind of questions you ask. Following are great ways that you can practice to increase the effectiveness of your question and excel.
1. Ask the question to gain clarity
It would be best to ask questions when you think you need more clarity or information about the thing being discussed. Imagine the following situation, and you are having lunch with one of your colleagues. She starts to tell you about a trip she recently took and all the fun things she did. In the middle of the story, she tells you that she spent some time with Alisha, a mutual friend. Listening to this, you jumped in and said, “How is Alisha doing?” just like that, the entire focus shifts from your colleague’s trip to Alisha and her life. This is something that you probably can relate to. A lot of times, the question you ask takes the conversation to a different tangent. Sometimes we manage to get the conversation back, and many times it just jumps from one topic to another.
2. Wait for the right time to follow-up
Again it is obvious, but you do not see people practicing it a lot. It is totally fine not to understand what the speaker is saying, and it is a great idea to ask a question about it. The catch here is that you do not interrupt right when the speaker is in the middle of a sentence. A civilized way of interrupting is to wait until the speaker takes a pause or ask you if you have any doubt. Then you may ask or say, “I didn’t understand what you said a couple of seconds back about… If you could expand on it a little.”
3. Try and plan questions in advance
In a professional setting, when you are adding any important meeting, you must go prepared with a certain set of questions in hand. Make sure you have the right information before putting your questions forward. Also, decide the sequence of questions beforehand.
4. Open conversation
Open questions allow the respondent to talk more and in an elaborative manner. It also enables you to collect much more information. Although, how you phrase questions matters a lot. For example, “Are you happy working for your current organization?” will give you a vague answer as compared to “What is the best/worst thing about your organization?”
5. Use neutral words
When you ask leading questions like, “How did you like the great game by Sachin?” It is futile to ask this. The aforementioned question clearly reflects that you want to listen to good things about Sachin and that itself defeats the idea of effective questioning. It is much more considerate if you ask, “How did you like the gameplay by Sachin?” This will elicit a much accurate response from the respondent.
6. Consider wait time
Whenever you ask a question to anyone, allow them to take some time. It ensures they get the time for recalling, formulating, structuring the response. It is often considered rude to prompt the person to respond right after you have finished asking the question.
7. Never interrupt
Remember, when we were kids, we were taught that it is extremely rude to interrupt when someone else is talking. I feel that it has not been told anymore to the kids growing up. Take a glance at what is around. You will find just the opposite. Switch on your television and see any debate on a news channel or any reality show. You will find all sorts of loud and aggressive behavior. Interrupting the other person is disrespectful, and it also shows that you find yourself to be superior to others. It also conveys that you really don’t care what the other person has to say or maybe you do not have time to know what they think.
I understand that we all have different paces at which we think and speak. If you are a quick thinker then the burden will be on you to slow down. A great communicator always takes the other person into account when speaking.