“Garbage in, garbage out,” is a popular truth, often said in relation to computer systems: If you put the wrong information in, you’ll get the wrong information out. The same principle applies to communications in general: If you ask the wrong questions, you’ll probably get the wrong answer, or at least not quite what you’re hoping for.
Asking the right question is at the heart of effective communications and information exchange. By using the right questions in a particular situation, you can improve a whole range of communications skills. For example, you can gather better information and learn more; you can build stronger relationships, manage people more effectively, and help others to learn too.
Open and Closed Questions
A closed question usually receives a single word or very short, factual answer. For example, “Are you thirsty?” The answer is “Yes” or “No”; “Where do you live?” The answer is generally the name of your town or your address.
Open questions elicit longer answers. They usually begin with what, why, how. An open question asks the respondent for his or her knowledge, opinion or feelings. “Tell me” and “describe” can also be used in the same way as open questions. Here are some examples:
Open questions are good for:
Closed questions are good for:
A misplaced closed question, on the other hand, can kill the conversation and lead to awkward silences, so are best avoided when a conversation is in full flow.
Funnel Questions
This technique involves starting with general questions, and then drilling down to a more specific point in each. Usually this will involve asking for more and more detail at each level. It’s often used by detectives taking a statement from a witness:
Using this technique, the detective has helped the witness to re-live the scene and to gradually focus in on a useful detail. Perhaps he’ll be able to identify young men wearing a hat like this from CCTV footage. It is unlikely he would have got this information if he’s simply asked an open question such as “Are there any details you can give me about what you saw?”
Funnel questions are good for:
Probing Questions
Asking probing questions is another strategy for finding out more detail. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking your respondent for an example, to help you understand a statement that they have made. At other times, you need additional information for clarification, “When do you need this report by, and do you want to see a draft before I give you my final version?” Or to investigate whether there is proof for what has been said, “How do you know that the new database can’t be used by the sales force?”
Probing questions are good for:
Leading Questions
Leading questions try to lead the respondent to your way of thinking. They can do this in several ways:
Note that leading questions tend to be closed.
Leading questions are good for:
Rhetorical Questions
Rhetorical questions aren’t really questions at all, in that they don’t expect an answer. They’re really just statements phrased in question form: “Isn’t John’s design work so creative?”
People use rhetorical questions because they are engaging for the listener – as they are drawn into agreeing (“Yes it is and I like working with such a creative colleague”) – rather than feeling that they are being “told” something like “John is a very creative designer”. (To which they may answer “So What?”)
Rhetorical questions are good for:
List which of the different questions types you identified and submit these as a comment.