Idea 84: The skill of asking the right question
It is harder to ask a sensible question than to supply a sensible answer.
Persian proverb
Questions are the tools of interviewing or, more widely, of listening. The art of interviewing largely consists of asking the right questions at the right time. There are several different kinds of question, each with its pros and cons. It is useful to have them all in your repertoire, so that you don’t get stuck like a broken record on only one type of question.
| Question | Uses | Disadvantages |
| The yes/no question For example, ‘Have you read this report?’ | Good for checking facts. Establishes where a rough balance lies quickly (e.g. ‘Are you healthy?’). | Can force oversimplified answers (e.g. to the question ‘Are you ... |
