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Attention → Here
A good, sharp “filter question” will direct the other person’s thoughts in a very precisely predetermined direction.
The following are examples of filter questions:
“How would things have been different if you had never met (person A)?”
“What is good about the way things have turned out?”
“How did your parents prepare you for situations like this?”
“Who would be the best person to help you in this situation?”
“What would be the outcome if you believed X instead?”
“What would be different if X were not true?”
“Could there be another right answer here?”
“If there were another solution here, what could it be?”
You use filter questions to place attention on a specific place, time, solution, or other feature. You are creating the assumption that the answer to the question mirrors the way you have framed it.
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