My purpose here is to compel you to find out more about relevant and appropriate questions. I have been preparing to launch a project that I have thought about for several years. While outlining and attempting to design my project, I began to write down a list of questions that will help me arrive at solutions related to my project. I tend to do more research than is required and I tend to look at a topic from several angels.
Sometimes I am so far outside the box that I lose focus of what my original intent was. What really helps me get grounded is to ask a few provocative questions. According to my online Thesaurus, provocative means among other descriptions, to be stimulating, challenging, inspirational, and inciting.
I have read that it is more important to ask a profound question than it is to make several statements. Too many times when we are stating facts and opinions, our audience is not compelled to listen. Our audience can either be other people, or we can be our own audience. We sometimes tend to make assumptions without asking the appropriate questions which will help us arrive closer to a solution we are seeking.
There are several categories of questions but I have been focusing on three since I awoke this morning.
1. Provocative questions. These are the type questions which I mentioned in my introduction above. An example of a provocative question may be “If you had an opportunity to ask an expert one question about this topic, what would that question be?”
2. Disarming questions. A disarming question is one which will compel your audience to reconsider any pre-conceived notions or opinions about you or your subject. A disarming question may be “If at any time you feel that you are not in control of our meeting, let me know what you how you feeling”.
3. Unsettling questions. An unsettling question is one which perhaps may intimidate or embarrass your audience or one which makes them feel uneasy. An unsettling question might be “here is the agenda we will be covering about your child’s behavior in the classroom, save your questions until I am finished”.
There are people, properly trained, who are masters at asking any one of these type questions to arrive at a successful end for both the questioner and his or her audience. I am just like you, in that I am not a trained questioner, but I am a seeker of knowledge that will help me serve others.
The purpose of a question may be to get our audience to reflect, to ponder, to consider your question in a way that causes them to see the view from various perspectives. I prefer asking provocative questions that allows the audience to feel sense of control, but that also compels them to have a divergent or more open view in their answers. Some questions may be:
“What is missing now, that if it were present would make a positive impact in your personal or business life?”
“What do you not know now, that you will need to know to be where you want to be?”
“If you are not now where you want to be in your personal or business life, what is your greatest struggle?”
“What is your greatest fear?”
“If you achieve what you hope for, how will that make a difference in your life?”
“If you don’t achieve what you hope to, what is the worse that could happen?”
My friends, I hope that this has been relevant food for thought for you today. Send me your feedback and your own provocative questions.
Make it a great day and stay connected,
Leo Llonch