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| Questions Spin the World | ||
Published in the Sept 99 SalesSense Inside View Newsletter |
What happens when you are asked a question? Mostly you first ask yourself "Do I know the answer?" then you decide how you will answer or possibly whether you will answer. We cannot help but think about the question. It is automatic. It is a deep seated, hard-wired, permanent brain function to answer questions. The only way to avoid thinking about a question asked is to not hear it at all. If I talk about controlling the thoughts of other people you may well think the subject sinister or the purpose manipulative. If I ask you a question and you think about it, which you cannot help doing if you hear it, what have I accomplished? Whoever is asking the questions is steering the thoughts of listeners. The questioner is in control. That something so innocuous as a simple question can be used to direct the mind of another person might seem credulous. Think it through. Almost any thing we might say can be presented as a question. A skilful questioner can cause us to arrive at a desired conclusion by ourselves, truly believing that the idea is the product of our own thinking. Do you prefer other peoples ideas or your own? Whose ideas are you most likely to act upon, yours or other peoples? Asking the right questions at the right time is the essence of persuasion. There are many different ways to use questions. I divide them into six categories to create a way to position each type and decide how to use them. They are:
Open v closed questions You probably know about open and closed questions. If I were to say, "How do you solve difficult problems?" you will find it hard to give a short answer. The question invites you to volunteer information. If I ask, "Can you solve this problem." you are likely to give a brief answer such as ‘yes’, ‘no’. Both styles can be applied to the other five categories, depending on the thinking you want to occur in a listener’s mind. Your tonality and emphasis varies the result. You can get open answers to closed questions and visa versa. I find the best use of open and closed questions is in tandem, for example - is . . . .the most important thing in this . . ., what led you to put that at the top of the list? Leading questions are the most obvious form of planting ideas. The desired answer is sold as part of the question. For example "The letter may compromise your chances, shall I delay sending it?" The unbiased version would be, "Shall I send the letter now or delay it?" You will have noticed how both of these questions are closed. Here is an open example of a leading question, "What we know suggests a firm response is appropriate. How do you want me to proceed?" If you are an acknowledged expert or hold a recognised position of authority, leading questions may be interpreted as instruction or command, particularly if a listener doesn’t know how to proceed. If the listener considers themselves an equal, or more knowledgeable than you, a leading question may well create resistance. I'll leave explanations of the other five questioning styles for a future 'Sales Help' article.
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