The art of asking the right questions

The ability to ask questions is a skill that anyone can develop. It is as important as erudition.

Why being able to ask questions is an important skill

Asking the right questions plays a very important role in various areas of life and learning. This skill enables people to understand information more deeply, stimulate critical thinking and develop communication. When a person asks well-formulated questions, it not only facilitates clear perception of the topic, but also opens new horizons for discussion.

How questions help to build rapport and trust

It’s through questions that you can make friends. After all, they show your interest in a person. But the main thing is to ask appropriate and competent questions, otherwise they can lead to misunderstandings and even quarrels. Interesting questions will always cheer up the interlocutor.

Questions play an important role in dialog

People like to be asked questions. And if you ask a lot of positive and interesting questions, you can develop the interest of the interlocutor. You can also ask funny and a little silly questions so that the dialog is not monotonous. Thanks to the questions you can show yourself. Your communication skills, your ability to express your thoughts competently.

You should get rid of the old “How are you?” phrase. Because it is usually answered with “Fine” or “Good”.

Few people answer this phrase with a detailed answer. And this question in no way shows your creativity, originality and so on.

Here are some analogies to that phrase:

• “When was your mood better: yesterday or today?”
• “Did you get off on the right foot today?”
• “Did you have a better life last year or this year?”

And the most important thing is that these questions are not intrusive.

Open and closed questions: when it is best to use each type.

Open-ended questions allow you to delve deeper into the topic of conversation and lead to a more in-depth discussion. They also demonstrate a genuine interest in the interviewee’s opinion. For example, you could ask: “Are you satisfied with your job?” or “What do you like most about your job?”.

You can ask, “Have you eaten?” or you can ask, “What have you eaten?”.

Examples of interesting questions:

1. How did you spend this summer and how was last summer? Which one did you enjoy more?
2. What would you spend a million dollars on?
3. what is better: an interesting job with a small salary or an uninteresting job with a big salary?
4. How would you spend your dream vacation?
5. What would your diet be like if all food cost the same?
6. What is your favorite food?
7. What are your hobbies?
8. Do you like to eat or cook more?
9. Do you have any pets?
10. Do you study any language?
11. What kind of music do you listen to?

Closed-ended questions presuppose unambiguous answers – either “yes” or “no”. Usually, such questions are asked to clarify something so that the dialog goes in the right direction.

For example:

• Do you like the color white?
• Are you comfortable talking right now?
• Have you ever used this product?
• Do you like this product?
• Are you ready?

How to avoid ambiguous and complex language

In order to avoid misunderstandings, it is necessary to get rid of ambiguous questions, as well as complex formulations. And don’t ask questions for the sake of asking questions or pour a lot of water.

It will help to formulate your thoughts clearly and clarify inaccuracies. It is worth getting rid of parasitic words, words that few people know. Questions should be formulated briefly. Let’s remember the golden phrase: “brevity is the sister of talent”.

How intonation affects the perception of a question

Intonation encompasses various elements including tone of voice, volume of sound, speed, and rhythm of speech. It can convey joy, sadness, anger, surprise and many other feelings, making communication more rich and understandable.

In Chinese, the same sounds with different intonation are different words altogether! And you should speak expressively and clearly. Never mumble.

Why it is important to strike a balance between asking and listening

It is important not only to ask questions, but also to listen carefully to the answers. This shows that you value the other person’s point of view and are willing to understand them better. People like to be listened to, so in order to please a person, you should try to listen and hear him. In general, you can determine a lot of things from a dialog: a person’s character, oratorical skills, diction, mood and much more.

In general, if you know how to ask questions, you are a master of keeping the dialog going!

On wedaf.com you can communicate with all sorts of interesting people. And just here you can strengthen your questioning skills.