The art of questioning (2)

The Art of QuestioningBy – N.G.Palit

What is a good question? ”Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” -- Anthony Robbins

What is the art of questioning?

It is the skill of asking the

right type of questions, to

the right person at the right

time and in the right environment.

What is Questioning? Questions can be defined as:

”A sentence phrase, or gesture that

seeks information through a reply.”

Purpose of Questioning?

It is quite interesting that

when we ask questions, we: May not be interested to get an honest answer. Just want an agreement. Would like our opinions, ’backed

up.’ May not actually need an answer.

Purpose of questioning Therefore, in order to ask

the type of questions, we

need to be aware of our

true motives behind asking

them.

What questions can accomplish?

Questions can accomplish

seven broad tasks: Gain knowledge Promote & expand

thinking. Clarify. Probe. . Guide Intimidate Attack

1. Gain Knowledge From our childhood, most of us have

seen a child constantly asking ”why.” It is to gain knowledge. But, we can gain knowledge, only if

we recognize a need to do so. A few arrogants who think that they

have all the answers may be unwilling to

seek the opinions of others.

2.Promote & expand thinking In order to think, consider the best

possible way how to get more

(quality) information, through

appropriate and unbiased

questioning.

3. Clarify This is to ensure that our

understanding of an answer

is correct and unbiased. The process involves offering

back to the responder what

we understood them to have meant.

4. Probe Probing questions are

designed to dig or think

more deeply. They often start with:

”what” ”why” ”how” ”when”

5. Guide It is an approach to guide the responder

to solve an issue by himself, through a

series of deliberate questions, which will

help them to reach an answer. This particular type of question is called

”the reflective toss”.

5. Guide The reflective toss:

Question ”Reflective Toss” Responder’s Answer

6. Intimidate This type of questions and their

styles come under the following

categories: Rapid firing of questions without

allowing a response. Aggressive tone, pitch and speed. Aggressive body language.

6. Intimidate Aggressive body language

coupled with warm language

This creates a neural

dissonance in the brain.

7. Attack These questions are personal in

nature, and the questioner is not

interested in the response. These questions may be used to

berate the responder. They may often start with – ’you’ or ’you are.’

Why do we ask questions? To obtain information. Out of curiosity. To maintain control of

conversation. To clarify. To express interest in another person. To encourage thought. To test or gain knowledge.

Why questions are asked? To enhance vision. To explore personality

or difficulties. To show others how

much. For critical reflective learning –

”to assess what went wrong,”

Types of questions Before questioning we must be

clear: Who is my audience? What is my relationship with them? Is this the right time to ask? Is this the right

environment? Are my intentions clear /

good?

Different types of questions 1. Closed 2. Tag or Tail 3. Open 4. Imaginative 5. Funnel 6. Probing 7. Recall and Process

Different types of questions 8. Leading 9. Loaded 10. Rhetorical 11. Emphatic / emotional

1. Closed Questions

The main features of closed questions are: 1. Single short answers like, ”yes”, ”no”, ”don’t know.” 2. They usually provide a factual answer. 3. Used to gain clarification. 4. They force a person to give a brief answer. 5. But, a misplaced question can stop

conversation and lead to silence.

Examples of closed questions

Some examples of closed questions are:

”What is your name”? ”Do you smoke”? ”What do you prefer, tea or coffee”?

2. Tag Questions The main features of

Tag or tail questions are: They turn a statement into a question. They allow us to check what we suspect or know is true.

Examples of Tag or Tail question

”You can do this today, can’t you”? ”I am the best person for the job,

aren’t I”? ”Yours is the best way to do, isn’t it”? But, the drawback is that a person who

is ’forced’ to agree, may feel aggrieved

and may not cooperate at a later stage.

3. Open Questions Open questions begin with:

”What ---” ”Why ---” ”When ---” ”How ---” ”Which ---” In order to get the most out of open

questions, one has to be an ’active listener.’

Main features of open questions

They encourage conversation. They are good for finding out details They give ’control’ to the responder

during conversation. They often start with ’what’, ’when’ ’why’, ’tell me’. ’describe’, etc. But, they take longer time, and one

needs to be an active listener.

4. Imaginative Questions Imaginative questions are free

from the strict norms and

constraints of normal questioning. They help both the sides to see

things in a different light. Example:

”If money was no consideration,

what would you do”?

Imaginative Questions

Imaginative questions are

often called:

”Blue sky thinking” ”Thinking out of the box” ’ Looking at the world through rose tinted glasses.’ * Advantage of thinking creatively and

without any constraint, generates creative

and innovative ideas.

5. Funnel Questions These questions ’funnel’ or

’channel’ the responder (s) They start with open questions,

but gradually narrow down to

closed question. Sometimes, it can be the other way – close

to open questions.

Funnel Questions 1. Open to close questioning is normally

used by police in order to obtain the

maximum amount of information. 2. Closed to open questioning can be

used for establishing better rapport

with people. Advantages: Funnel questions are ideal

for finding out more details.

6. Probing Questions Probing questions help to

obtain more details. Different

types of probing questions

are: a) Clarification b) Purpose c) Relevance d) Repetition

Probing Questions e) Echo f) Examples g) Extension h) Accuracy i) Emotional j) Evaluation

Clarification It is used to get more details,

when the responder uses

vague or unclear language. Some examples are:

”What did you mean by xxx”? ”Can you tell me more about ---”

Purpose It is used when there is

confusion about the purpose

of what they said.

Examples: ”What were you thinking about, when you said

---”? ”Why did you say ---”?

Relevance This can be used if the

discussion or conversation

sounds that it is going off

the track. Example:

”How is that relevant to the question”?

Repetition This is one of the best way

to get more details. We can

ask the question in the

same way or we can

rephrase it. Example:

”Where did you go?” ”Which places did you visit?”

Echo In echo questioning, we repeat what

has already been said, emphasizing the

areas where we would like to get more

details. Examples:

Ans: ”Can we go out?” Question; ”Can we go out, what do

you think?”

Examples This can be used when we

need to ask for specific

examples to test the depth

of their answer or to check

the honesty behind it. Such type of questions are often used

in job interviews.

Examples

Some questions can be like: ”Can you give me an example of

when you overcame a challenging job situation?” ”Can you tell me about a time

when you ---?”

Extension This is used when a responder has not

given details in his answers and we want

to hear more.

Examples: ”What happened after that?” ”Can you tell me a little more

about that place.”

Accuracy & completeness The purpose is to check the answer

against the information we already have.

Examples: ”How does that compare with the answer you gave earlier?” ”Is there anything that you have missed out?”

Emotional When we are asked an emotional

question, we may answer in third person.

This may be to distance ourselves from

the response. In order to clarify, that the answer is

’owned’ by the responder, we may ask:

”How did you feel about that?”

Evaluation

This type of question is

used to get someone to

rank or judge something. Examples: ”How do you know that this is good?” ”What are the pros and cons of this?”

Evaluation It is interesting to note that probing

questions can also be asked by using

body language. A tilt of head or raising eyebrows shows

our interest and may encourage the

responder to give out more details.

Leading Questions A leading question steers the responders

towards a certain direction. This type of questions are used when

the questioner wants to get something

confirmed.. These are commonly used in legal cases

Leading Questions

Examples of:

a) Leading question:

”Were you at your house on 31st. night?” b) Non-leading question:

”Where were you on 31st. December night?”

Leading Questions Advantage:

Leading question can help

you get the answer you

want. Disadvantage:

Biased leading question can render

your data unusable and open to question.

Importance of Questioning

It is correctly said: ”Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” - Voltaire (1694 – 1778) ”It is better to know some of the questions than all of the

answers.” - James Thurber (1894 – 1961)

Importance of Questioning

Importance of Questioning

Importance Of Questioning

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