Questioning Skills in Communication

Questioning Skills in
Communication
The Art of Questioning & Probing to
get desired results
Presented by
Dr.M.Sasidharan

How to Ask Questions to Get The Results You Want:
The Monk's Method
• In delivering communication skills training workshops to various groups over the past
fifteen years, I came to depend on the following funny story to illustrate how the way
people ask a question can determine the answers they get. I labeled this questioning
technique, "The Monk's Method." Two monks were praying, walking and talking as
they do all day long. The junior monk said to the senior monk. "I'm surprised you're
allowed to smoke while walking around and praying here in the monastery my dear
brother. When I joined the monastery I asked our Head Monk about smoking and his
answer was a resounding no. How come you are able to smoke with no problem?
The senior monk smiled and said, "Am I right to assume, my dear brother, that you
asked the Head Monk whether it was alright for you to smoke while praying? "Yes,"
said the junior monk. "I asked him whether it was alright for me to smoke while
praying, and he looked at me disapprovingly and said, "Of course not. I'm surprised
you would even ask."
• "Ah!," exclaimed the senior monk. "You didn't know how to ask my dear brother. It all
depends on how you put it. When I joined the monastery, I too asked the Head Monk
about smoking, but in a slightly different manner. I asked him: "Dear Master, Is it
alright for me to pray while smoking?" And he said, "But of course my son. You can
pray anytime."
• In asking questions, as well as in all other aspects of communication, it's not what
you say that counts, but how you say it.

The Impact of Questions
• Appreciate how learning to ask positive question
can improve team effectiveness.
• Recognize that asking questions is a
communications skill, just like speaking clearly or
listening effectively.
• Develop the ability to use inflection, phrasing,
and timing to ask positive questions.
• How To Ask Positive Questions
• Employees who can properly ask questions will
deal better with all colleagues throughout the
entire organization.

1. Questions to Elicit Feelings
• “How do you feel about all this?”
• “How is this affecting you?”

2. Action Questions
• “So, what will you do now?”
• “What do you need to do next?”

3. Option Questions
• “What alternative ways do you think are
possible?”
• “What are the three things you can do?”

4. Motivating Questions
• “How will you benefit from coming out of
this?”
• “How would you feel if this gets achieved?”

5. Directed or Leading Questions
• “Are you angry now?”
• “What makes you angry?”
• “Tell me more about the issue or problem or
person …”
• “I trust you agree with these facts..”

6. Negative Interrogation
• “Why don’t you..?”
• “What keeps you from..?
• “What is stopping you..?”
• “Don’t you agree with these facts?”

7. Neutral Questions
• “What do you feel?”
• “What do you think?”

8. Open & Closed Questions
Open questions
– “What do you think
about this issue?”
– “What is your plan for
today?”
Closed Questions
– “Do you agree or disagree
with this issue?”
– “Are you coming to the
office today?”

9. Orientation-Seeking Questions
• Orientation seeking questions request
information and opinions about group goals.
• “What is on the agenda for today?”

10. Relationship-Clarifying Questions
• Relationship clarifying questions ask about
interpersonal and role relationships among
members. The questioner may ask how
members feel toward each other and toward
the group, and what members want from each
other.
• “Did anyone feel left out of our discussion last
time?”

11. Procedure-Seeking Questions
• Procedure seeking questions ask such things
as how to coordinate activity of members,
what techniques to use for organizing
interaction, in what sequence to take up items
for consideration, how to make a decision,
how to outline a problem-solving procedure,
or simply what to do next
• “How should we organize this discussion?”

12. Fact-Seeking Questions
• Fact seeking questions are requests for
specific statements of fact
• The questioner may ask for an observation of
something that occurred, for clarification of a
statement, for factual statements that were
reported elsewhere, or for what some group
members said earlier
• “What does anybody know about the extent
of crime in our city?”

13. Opinion-Seeking Questions
• Opinion seeking questions ask for others’
opinions, interpretations, or judgments about
the meaning of facts
• “How much do you think it cost to make the
movie Titantic?”

14. Solution-Seeking Questions
• Solution seeking questions ask for a decision
about what to do to solve a problem
• Such a question often reemphasizes the type
of goal or final output of a special committee
• “What should we do next?”
• “Which person is most qualified to lead our
student government?”

Questioning Tips
• The purpose is to draw out
information and to gain
clarity
• It is important that your
mentee doesn’t feel
interrogated or that they
are being judged.
• If they feel that they have
to justify themselves, they
may block communication
which could prevent them
considering alternatives.
1. Rephrase questions to avoid beginning with
a ‘why’
2. Ask one question at a time
3. Wait for the answer
4. Ask questions that prompt deep thinking
5. Seek to promote insight
6. Ask about, and listen for feelings as well as
facts
7. Respond to non-verbal communication
with feedback
8. Use non-verbal communication to keep
questions from sounding interrogative
9. Move from the general to specific
10.Challenge assumptions and generalizations

Sample Questions
• Career discussion:
– What is most important to you in your
life and work?
– What career options have you
considered?
– Which are the skills you are best at
and enjoy using most?
– What are your career goals?
– What potential constraints must you
take into account when planning your
career?
• Cushions – softening a confronting
question:
– Do you mind if I ask…
– I’m wondering…
– Would you like to tell me…
• Skills development discussion:
– What changes are you likely to need
to deal with in the near future?
– What results would you like to
achieve, that you are not achieving
now?
– What new skills do you want to
develop?
– What knowledge, information or
qualifications do you need to acquire
in the near future?
• Probing – getting the person to
talk more:
– Can you say a little more about…
– Would you expand on that idea…
– Perhaps you’d like to tell me…

The Art of Questioning & Probing
• Questions to elicit feelings
“How do you feel about all this?”, “How is this affecting you?”
• Action questions
“So, what will you do now?” , “What do you need to do next?”
• Option questions
“What alternative ways do you think are possible?”, “What are the three things you
can do?”
• Motivating questions
“How will you benefit from coming out of this?”, “How would you feel if this gets
achieved?”
• Directed (or leading)
“Are you angry now?”, “What makes you angry?” , “Tell me more about the
issue/problem/person …”
• Neutral
“What do you feel?” , “ What do you think?”
• Negative Interrogation
“What keeps you from..? , “What is stopping you..?”
• Open questions
• Closed Questions

The Art Of Asking Question:
a. To gain information - Who, what,
where, when, why, how, how much?
a. To stimulate conversation – Have you heard?
Do you see? Can you believe? What do you
think?

c. To gain the other’s views - What do you think
about? Can you tell me how you feel about?
d. To check agreement? - Do you think we are
on the right track? Can you support this decision?
Are we in agreement? Do you have any objection?

e. To build rapport and trust - How can I help
you? What can I do to meet your objectives?
What would you like to accomplish? Tell me about
your goals/dreams/objective?
f. To verify information - Did I understand
what you mean? Can I summarize this
as………………?

The Two Major Type Of Questions:
Typical closed questions are:
• What time is it?
• Did you finish the project?
• Are you going to the meeting?
• Can you work overtime tonight?
• When did you first discover the problem?s

The Two Major Type Of Questions:
Typical open question are:
• How do you feel about the meeting?
• What could we do to make the project better?
• How can we meet our objectives?
• What’s your opinion on the new marketing plan?
How important it you?

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Questioning Skills in Communication

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