How to Ask Good Questions?
“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” Voltaire
Are you one of those who are afraid of what someone will think if you ask a question during meetings or after listening to a thought-provoking lecture? Do not worry, you are not alone. More than 95 % of people fall into this category. Many people are hesitant to ask questions because they’re afraid it will make them look uninformed. It takes a lot of courage and practice to ask a question that is challenging but answerable involving critical thinking. Asking the right questions at the right time is a characteristic of strong leaders.
To help you in making an expert in asking good questions, here are some tips, some dos, and don’ts.
A. The Homework
Before you ask the question, do your homework
1. Research the Topic and the Speaker
There are more than 99% chances that you have got intimation about the topic and the speaker well in time to do some basic research about both. Not to embarrass the speaker or impress the audience with the breadth and depth of your knowledge, your research should focus on knowing what you do not know. Deciding beforehand on the likely information you require from the speaker will help you inappropriately format the question you’re asking. Normally there are four types of questions asked by a public speaker
a) Clarification: The speaker is politely requested to clarify or explain in a bit more detail any point he has made in his main discourse
b) Analytical: The speaker is supposed to analyse a situation and come up with his opinion on why we should or shouldn’t support the Clash of Civilisation Thesis of Huntington
c) Compare/Contrast: He is asked to compare or contrast two different propositions and give his viewpoint -End of History vs Clash of Civilisation
d) Relationship: The speaker is supposed to answer the cause or effect type of question i.e., causes of the fall of the Roman Empire/consequences of the Crusades on socioeconomic conditions of Europe, etc.
2. Use Tin-opener to ask a Question
Try to ask open-ended questions starting with Tin Openers i.e., Why, what, when How, etc. Open-ended questions force the speaker to dig deep and answer your question and provide much more information. As opposed to the above using helping verbs such as is, are, do, etc., often results in a yes or no answer or incomplete information. Technically even this question can result in a yes/no answer-do you believe in the End of History thesis of Francis Fukuyama? Instead ask, “Why do you believe at the End of History thesis when all his assumptions turned out to be invalid?
3. Write down your Question
Always write down your question on a neat piece of paper in legible writing. If you were unable to pose that question, you can hand over this piece of paper with your name and email written on it for his online response later.
4. Keep the Context in View
Ask the right question to the right person at the right time. Do not ask a social scientist to answer you about the mechanics of a nuclear bomb. Yes, you can ask him about the social, economic, and political effects of dropping an atomic bomb
5. Be Concise but Clear
When you ask a question, be clear to yourself- what you want an answer to -facts and figures? Expert opinion? Once you know what kind of information you need and whom to ask, you must ask your questions in a manner that gets the best possible information in response. Politically correct questions are now in; be careful to slander someone, or name anyone in a derogatory way. Rather avoid mentioning anyone else by name in your question unless it is a public domain issue.e Why do you agree with the End of History thesis of Francis Fukuyama?
B. The Question
Coming to the meat of the question, here are some suggestions to formulate your question
1. Has he covered the Main Points
This is the easiest question to ask. If you have done your homework properly and listened to his speech attentively, you would immediately know whether the speaker had done justice to the topic or had been beating about the bush. If so, ask him very politely to elaborate on those points which you think he missed discussing. But do not accuse him of any deliberate omission. Simply say that he might have forgotten it or left it because of the paucity of time; he may like to discuss those in the Q/A session
2. Challenge the Facts/Figure
This is also an easy question if you had studied the relevant documents the night before the lecture or can rely upon your memory. Listen carefully and if you find any facts or figures which per your best information are not true, point them out in your question in a very polite way-
“Sir, the figure you quoted in your speech about the GDP of country X looks to be slightly different from what I read in a newspaper/book yesterday while I was preparing for your lecture. Can you please indicate the source of your information?”
3. Look for Internal Inconsistencies
This demands an extra effort when you are listening to his lecture. Invariably, every speaker structures his speech around five pillars- introduction/definition, background, findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Look for any inconsistency in these pillars themselves or how these are related to one another. For example,
a. Do you agree with the definition the lecturer has given of the topic he discussed? (there are three definitions of literacy/four of food security etc.).
b. Has he given proper historical background, missed something or it was out of context?
c. Are his findings reliable, and backed by proper sources?
d. Has he drawn proper conclusions from those findings or there is no logical relationship between the two?
e. All his recommendations supported by the conclusions he has drawn or does anyone or two come out of thin air without being discussed in the main body?
These are very hard questions and need practice mastering this technique.
4. Challenge the Assumptions
Every speaker makes a statement based on certain assumptions whether he explicitly mentions it or not. And this is the weakest point of anyone-including you also. Find out what is he assuming and ask him to come up with a justification for that assumption. Remember it is the validity and relevance of any assumption upon which the whole edifice of an argument is based. If you can prove that the underlying assumptions of the speaker are neither valid nor relevant, you have made score.
5. Challenge its Technical Feasibility
If the speaker has suggested some proposals or plans of action, question its technical feasibility. Is the project feasible within the limits of current technology? Does the technology exist at all? Is it available within given resource constraints? Manpower, finances, software, and hardware? Necessary technical expertise?
6. Challenge its Financial Viability
Ideally, all the projects proposed by the speaker should be self-financing which is a guarantee for their long-term sustainability. A few of the questions you should ask are;
a. How much investment is required for the proposed project/programme?
b. At what level the project will break even?
c. How much profit will it be made? If in loss, what will be its quantum, and how to cover it?
d. Are the assumptions made in the proposed projections supported by a realistic assessment of objective realities?
e. Are there any variables to which the project is most sensitive?
f. What will be the effects of any changes in these variables?
7. Challenge its Economic Benefits
Of course, not all projects could be self-financing, particularly if they are meant for social welfare. Challenge him to show that if a proposed project is not financially viable, is it economically beneficial to most people, directly as well as indirectly. Motorways are never financially viable but their socio-economic spin-offs justify their construction in terms of the costs-benefits ratio which is the most frequently used method for evaluating the effectiveness of a new project.
8. Challenge its Social Acceptance
Normally a proposal should be in harmony with the social norms and values of a society. Challenge him if the proposal he has made in the lecture conflicts with the accepted norms. For example, allowing gambling as a source of generating revenue in a country where it is religiously forbidden or socially unacceptable, is not a good proposal. However, there are times when policy must be formulated to change these very social norms such as child marriage, bonded labour, etc.
9. Challenge its Political Expediency
The success or failure of any proposal depends a lot on the level and intensity of commitment of the elected representatives and the amount of consensus developed among the stakeholders for its execution. Challenge him if you think the proposal made by him is impracticable in the face of its opposition by the political elite of the country. Ask him to suggest remedies to overcome this handicap.
10. Challenge its Environmental Sustainability
Challenge him whether the proposal he has made is environmentally compliant i. e., conforming to environmental laws, regulations, standards, and other requirements. Generally pushed by global entities, environmental issues are now part and parcel of all policies. Do ask him how he intends to deal with the environmental issues and more specifically, whether practicable mitigation and adaptation measures have been suggested to tackle these issues.
C. The Format
When your turn comes to ask the question, keep the following procedure
1. Starting the Question
First, thank the speaker for a very thought-provoking lecture and appreciate one or two good points he made in the lecture. Then pick up the point you think needs further probing and make your statement which could be your own or someone else point of view which is different from the one the speaker has pointed out in his speech (acknowledgement due if he is a well-known person) or say, “according to another speaker who spoke about this issue a few days ago”). Then request the speaker to elaborate his point of view using proper English with a reasonable vocabulary and good grammar.
2. Listen Attentively to the Answer
Once you have posed your question, the speaker while answering the question will be looking at you most of the time. Be respectful, maintain eye contact, nod or offer a vocal agreement periodically to let the person know you’re listening, and focus on what the person is saying without interruption. Let him finish explaining himself. If the answer he has given is not clear to you, don’t be too embarrassed to ask for further clarification. This will help keep further problems from arising because you did not get all the information you needed.
3. Ending the Question
When you have finished your question, thank the speaker again for his patience and let the person answer it in full. Don’t interrupt the speaker when he is speaking. No way. Besides being rude, it will stop his train of thought. Even when you think you are not getting the answer, be patient. you want. However, if the person has long strayed from the topic, then, of course, you need to interrupt. Be as polite as possible when doing it. If you think the speaker has missed an important point, do not intervene until he has finished talking. Maybe he has not gotten to his full answer yet or he may be waiting to get to that part of the answer because there is other information you have to understand first.
4. Avoid making Speaker Uncomfortable
Do call a spade a spade, but do not throw the spade towards the speaker. If you find the speaker is beginning to feel uncomfortable, do not press the issues unless you are questioning in a professional capacity as a journalist, senator, or lawyer.
D. The Extras
Keep these tips in mind when asking the question
1. Use Jargon, Intelligently: Jargons impress the knowledgeable but are detested by the layperson for obvious reasons. First, check the composition of the audience as your question and its answer will become part of the lecture and discourse. Feel free to use the jargon where people are familiar with it but do not use it as a weapon of mass communication.
2. Be Specific: Try to be as specific as you can and make sure to ask about what you want to ask about. If you do not feel comfortable with the response or feel that it does not respond to what you have asked, proceed gently by asking how they know this information. Ask what the general trend is that would shortcut a path to that knowledge, meaning that you are seeking the tools to answer the questions yourself from this point onwards.
3. Keep the Question Simple & Brief: Don’t use any more words than are strictly needed to articulate your question. Don’t ramble or explain anything more than what is needed to understand your problem and answer the question. If you ramble on at length or add lots of qualifications or other extraneous details, your listener can easily get bogged down. For the sake of clarity, each question should boil down to one central theme or idea. If you need to touch on multiple points, do it in a follow-up question.
4. Sound Confident. Sound confident when you ask. Don’t be apologetic or self-deprecating. Use as little filler language (like “erm”, “um”, “uh”, “ah”, “em”, “like”, etc.) as possible. And never aggressively ask a question. This indicates that you are only asking the question to prove to the other person that you are right and they are wrong meaning that you are argumentative and not open-minded
Conclusions
The most stupid question is the one that is in one’s mind but never asked. You shouldn’t be ashamed to be asking a question at the right time. The longer you put off asking, the more difficult your problem may become. There is always a first time for everything. Just get started asking questions. Fortunately, asking questions, like anything else, is a skill that can be cultivated and will improve over time
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