Notes from 57th International STC Conference
Dallas, Texas, May 2-5, 2010

The Art of Questioning

Rich Maggiani

An expert at research and questioning, Maggiani is with Solari Communication and is on the STC Board of Directors.

Session Description: Questions are the foundation of excellent research and interviews. Attendees learned the power of questions, what they can engender, and how to write them; as well as 10 types of questions and how to sequence them to obtain the information you need.

• Questions occur within a given framework
• The better you ask the question, the better answer you will get.
• You can tell whether a person is knowledgeable by his or her answers.
• You can tell whether a person is wise by his or her questions.
• Questioning is an art. There is skill involved, but be an artist when you question.
• Roadmap
   
• Designing and creating questions
• Questions enlighten
• Types of questions (10 types)
• Writing good questions (4 points)
• Tips on questioning
• Designing and creating questions
   
• More difficult than answers
• Enlighten both parties
• Foundation of knowledge
• Analyze a problem or situation
• Garner thorough, thoughtful, honest, helpful responses
• Questions are important; they help you devise solutions
• But be judicious... there is a limit to SME tolerance
• Accurate and relevant results come from good questions
• Know your overall goals.
• Spend time designing, which saves time in the end.
• Write a superset of questions (more than you actually use)
• Questions enlighten
• You have to listen to the answers.
• Even simple questions can trigger an enlightening conversation.
• Questions enlighten in 10 ways
   
1. Gather information: hone in; impose order on chaos
2. Stimulate reflection, relate new to past: challenge assumptions
3. Create a profile: investigate lifestyles
4. Gather views and opinions: obtain a human perspective
5. Generate ideas: stimulate ardor
6. Reinforce learning: drill, aid retention
7. Assess learning: demonstrate achievement, determine what you don’t know, close gap
8. Stimulate action: induce certain steps, cause action
9. Obtain feedback: Elicit reactions, enable knowledge and opinion
10. Demonstrate respect or disdain: most of the communication is non-verbal; show you value other ideas, energize relationships; or alienate and create antagonisms
• Ten types of questions
   
1. Permission: reduces tension, gets person in motion, shows respect, sets other person at ease
2. Factual: gets specific information, requires simple responses, gets the ball rolling; might preclude further questions along a certain line of thinking
3. Description: stimulates thought, obtains descriptive information
4. Feeling: uncovers opinions and values, elicits an emotional response ; these questions need to follow factual and description questions
5. Magic wand (what if): considers life when a situation doesn’t exist, enables speculation, encourages visionary responses
6. Probing: provides for further details, fills in the gaps; a well-timed silence can serve as a probing question... wait! A statement can also serve as a question; again wait for a reaction.
7. Checking: enables your understanding, clarifies conflicting information, dispels assumptions
8. Restatement: rephrases responses (shows you got it), demonstrates your understanding, checks up on inconsistent information
9. Encouragement: encourages continuation, validates responses, shows you are listening. Sometimes the best question is an attentive silence.
10. Catch-all: verifies information, elicits another viewpoint
• Two basic types of questions: closed-end questions (“what time is it?”) and open-ended questions. Use closed-end questions only at the beginning.
• Great questioning elicits effective and enlightening narrative.
• Diplomatic questioning reduces tension.
• Writing good questions: 4 key attributes
   
1. Brief. Short and to the point, address only one point
2. Objective. Leave out opinions, judgments, arbitrary ideas; don’t lead or telegraph; no loaded questions; no assumptions
3. Simple. Simple words and phrases (avoid jargon)
4. Direct: avoid jargon; be specific; avoid complexities and generalities
• Sequencing
   
• Start by listing three to five topics to cover.
• Begin with permission questions.
• Recursively sequence through factual to restatement questions (not necessarily all types of question or exactly in that order)
• Encouragement questions
• Close with catch-all questions; conclude by summarizing.
• Tips
   
• Start with a statement of purpose.
• Employ a variety of questions.
• Focus on your needs.
• Ask simple, explicit questions.
• Use concrete, specific language.
• Number and print your questions and answers (can give in advance of your interview)
• Sequence questions to build on responses.
• Get the complete answer before moving on.
• Hypothesize from time to time.
• Conclusion: The informational portrait you paint directly relates to your artistic ability to create and ask questions.
• Final thought: Computers are useless; they can only provide answers.