Asking Good Questions
What does a good question look like?
On average, most people ask 200-400 questions a day. (I think?) (hahaha see what I did there?)
Anyway...I think it's human nature to ask questions often and similarly, question most things in life. Although when speaking we may not ask questions in the correct format, we should certainly be cautious when writing our questions out.
Below are some example questions on the left and on the right, that same question re-written in two different ways that makes the original question more open-ended.
1) Original Question:
Have you ever sent a text message while driving?
Re-write #1
How often do you check your phone while driving?
Re-write #2
Whats your most checked app while driving?
2) Original Question:
Would you say you travel abroad frequently?
Re-write #1
Whats your favorite country you've ever traveled to?
Re-write #2
If you were given $10,000 to travel, where would you go?
3) Original Question:
Do you post a lot of pictures on Instagram?
Re-write #1
What is your favorite social media app to post photos on?
Re-write #2
How many likes do you think your instagram account generates when posting photos?
4) Original Question:
Do you prefer to shop at big box or locally owned stores?
Re-write #1
What is your preferred method of shopping?
Re-write #2
How do you make sure you're supporting local businesses?
5) Original Question:
Do you have an iPhone or an Android phone?
Re-write #1
Which is your preferred phone provider?
Re-write #2
What phone type interface do you work better on?
6) Original Question:
How often do you eat sweets?
Re-write #1
What is your favorite sweet treat to indulge in?
Re-write #2
If you had to only pick one sweet treat to have for a year, which would it be?
7) Original Question:
Do you tend to buy things that are on sale?
Re-write #1
Hoe often do you go shopping?
Re-write #2
When you shop, do you trend to look for deals?
So Why is this so important?
Getting an answer that results in a longer explanation or a story rather than just "yes" or "no" is the result of asking an open-ended question.
Asking an open-ended question can be important in many different aspects. We probably don't realize that we encounter open ended questions daily as well as ask them.
Expanding upon answers to peoples questions provides not only more in depth answers but provokes in depth thought to give those answers.