A Questioning Strategy (Questioning Principle #1)

(This is a three-part series on the basic principles of questioning, starting on 20 April 2009.)

A Questioning Strategy is a fancy way of saying that you need to think of your questions in advance. This is important for several reasons.

• It allows you to think about the purpose of your questions: to uncover the necessary information from your source or interview, particularly from the respondent.
• It gives you time to structure your questions thoughtfully with respect to the situation and the respondent.
• You are able to think about how you might ask stupid questions if necessary – and sometimes they are, although don’t worry too much about this. In certain situations, it’s ironic that you can look smart by asking stupid questions.

If your questions are determined in advance, you now have the luxury to listen to the answers. Obviously this improves the effectiveness of the third principle, Listening.

When you’re not fully prepared, you tend to use the time when the respondent answers the question to think about your next question. Instead, you should be using this time to listen to their response. Sometimes you might find their answer begs a tangent question, or an unusual direction of thought. Write notes to yourself so you can return to this new question or direction, particularly if the answers cause you to brainstorm ideas. It’s premature and presumptive to start creating ideas when they haven’t finished answering your questions.

Also, like a good talk show host who writes their questions in advance, you want to prioritise your questions, preferably by subject, just in case the interview runs short of time. Most questions tend to fall into 10 categories, which I’ve outlined later in this chapter. You may also find yourself in a situation where the person you are interviewing is less than cooperative. This is another reason why you want to have questions written in advance because curiosity – like creativity – doesn’t come easily when you’re under pressure.

Finally, a bit of trivia about questions. Not surprising, the word ‘question’ comes from the Latin word quaestio meaning ‘to seek.’