How to Ask the Right Question

Avoid asking rhetorical questions.
Ask friendly, clarifying questions.
Don’t put the listener on the spot.
Ask open-ended questions.
Thank the person for their response.
Avoid tension, as it may lead to poor answers.
Avoid being too direct.
Be a willing listener.

531

903 reads

MORE IDEAS ON THIS

To communicate well

... ask the right question and ask it at the right time.

The wrong question is almost guaranteed to generate the wrong answer. The right question asked at the wrong time -- in the wrong context, while there are pressing distractions, asked of the wrong person -- is equally useless.

277

553 reads

CURATED FROM

How to Ask the Right Question in the Right Way

entrepreneur.com

2 ideas

·

1.45K reads

CURATED BY

Vanessa

@vanessaw

I like movies, reading books and tea. I also listen to a lot of podcasts.

Related collections

De-escalate Office Tension

Giving Effective Feedback

A Job Seeker's Guide

Joining A New Team

More like this

How to ask better questions

Ask open-ended questions: they unlock more information from people
Ask “why” 3 times: the easiest way to deepen the level of a conversation
Ask about specifics, not generalizations
Frame questions around a person’s reactions to experiences...

How to get beyond small talk

Ask open-ended questions that invite people to tell stories, rather than one-word answers.

Instead of "How was your day?" try, "What did you do today?" Other open-ended questions to try:

"What's your story?"
"What's the ...

Ask the Right Questions to Narrow Focus

When novice players play chess, they focus on what to do with the pieces. They may try and visualise a few steps ahead, but mostly just react to the board without considering the reasons behind the pieces.
Professional chess players focus on how their oppon...

Supercharge your mind with one idea per day

Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.

Email

I agree to receive email updates