About the Author

Elizabeth Frick, the Text Doctor®, teaches writing at Twin Cities companies and organizations such as Best Buy, Ceridian, Lawson Software, Guidant, Medtronic, Remmele Engineering, 3M, and Smead Manufacturing. Her interactive classes and practical workshops help everyone improve communication skills. With her coauthor, Elizabeth A. Frick, Bette won the Excellence in Training award for 2002 from the Association of Professional Communications Consultants (APCC). She is also a writer, most recently completing two training broadcasts for the State of Minnesota. Other clients include Brooks Brothers, Medtronic, the American Society of Quality Press, Methodist Hospital (Hospice), and the Veterans Administration.

Dr. Frick holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota. She serves as President of the Society for Technical Communication (STC), Twin Cities Chapter (2003-2004).

STC UUX Community Newsletter
Usability Interface

That's a Good Question!

By Elizabeth Frick

All of us have suffered the consequences of expensive, unasked questions both in our professional lives and our personal lives. As technical communicators, we need to ask good questions to elicit information, but many of us lack adequate training in this skill. Add to that the natural reticence of some technical communicators, and it’s no wonder that we walk away from SME interviews or department meetings wishing we’d remembered to ask X, Y, or Z.

This article offers information as to why questions are so important, who needs to improve discovery skills, what process you should use to develop your questions, what types of questions are useful, how to strategize your questions, how to ask good questions, how to handle people answering the questions you ask them, and how to answer questions that are asked of you.

Why are questions important?

We have all experienced the pain of unasked questions. One of my clients shared an example of not asking where they should design the cleanout door on a machine they were prototyping for a customer. They just assumed it would follow past designs. That was a $20,000 unasked question (and mistake)!

I was once penalized by an unasked question: When I replaced my windows with casements, I asked if I could clean them from the inside of the house. I was assured I could. When the windows were installed, I found that someone with a 28-inch arm could clean the window from inside (but I have only a 24-inch arm). I failed to ask the right question: “Can a person with a 24-inch arm clean this particular width of window?”

Why should you care?

• You always have a “question budget”—a point at which others will stop answering your questions.
• If you ask the right questions, you’ll get the information you need.

If you get the information you need, you’ll save money (and time).

Who needs to improve discovery skills?

Everyone needs to ask good questions. For the question phobic (many technical communicators), let’s call it “discovery skills.” Here are a few people who need discovery skills:

• Physicians need to ask focused questions to arrive at a correct diagnosis, and patients need to ask questions of their doctors to clarify their own health issues.
• Engineers need to ask questions of their clients, and clients need to ask questions of the engineers to make sure they have communicated their needs.
• Attorneys and judges need to ask questions of plaintiffs and defendants, and vice versa.
• Scientists ask questions, usually as a first step for experiment design. All research begins with a question or questions.
• Therapists need to ask questions to insure they understand their patients.
• Teachers need to ask questions to engage learners with the subject matter. Learners need to ask questions to fill in the “gaps” of their learning.
• HR managers must ask questions in interviews; job search candidates also ask questions of the interviewer.
• Politicians need to ask questions (sometimes rhetorical). Voters need to ask questions of politicians to determine the politicians’ positions. Pollsters ask questions of voters.
• The media needs to ask questions.
• Focus group leaders and other researchers ask questions.
• Children need to ask questions to learn from their parents. Parents need to ask questions to learn from their children.
• Police officers and investigators need to ask questions.
• Programmers need to ask questions to make sure they understand their clients’ needs.
• Salespeople need to ask questions to clarify prospect’s needs. Consumers need to ask questions about the products they buy.
• You need to ask questions!

What process should you use to develop questions?

Generally, a good writing process will help you be complete, consistent, clear, concise, and correct as you create a list of your questions. When I teach technical writing, I ask people to use some variation of this writing process:

1. Prewriting
2. Drafting
3. Getting feedback
4. Revising
5. Editing/proofreading

These steps (often applied recursively) will help you hone your questions.

What types of questions are useful?

There are many different types of questions.

1. Permission questions demonstrate your positive intent in asking questions. They show respect and help you build trust.

• Let me ask you…
• Could you show me how you want….?
• Can I get some more information about….

2. Open-ended questions stimulate thought and encourage continued conversation. They cannot be answered with one word or with a simple “yes-no” response.

• What items are critical to ZZZ?
• What are the risks?
• How does this subassembly fit into the overall drug delivery?
• What’s that all about?

3. Closed questions elicit “yes” or “no” answers (often, verifiable data). Once answered, this type of question may preclude further conversation without asking another question.

• What is the piece price of XXX?
• Is this process currently being used?
• What is the tolerance of YYY?

4. Catchall questions invite further information. As you listen to the answer, you might receive verification of information already placed on the table. Then again, catchall questions might elicit another viewpoint.

• Would you like to tell me anything I haven’t asked you about?
• What haven’t we discussed that might be relevant?
• What else is important for me to know?

5. Restatement/paraphrase questions show that you’ve been listening. They can keep the communication open, perhaps because they show you are listening and want to clarify your perceptions. They are also a graceful way to check up on inconsistent information.

• Let me play this back to you…
• Here’s what I have heard so far. Let me state it in my own words to make sure I understand it correctly.

6. Checking questions help you further clarify conflicting information, especially if answers have diverged from expectations.

• Please explain that a little further…
• Help me understand your intention…
• Tell me more about…

7. Probing questions help you explore more in a certain direction. You can elicit further detail by asking probing questions.

• Why is that?
• How would that look?
• What if…?
• Tell me more about…
• What about…?

8. Encouraging questions help speakers keep going without interrupting them. Silence is a great encourager!

• I see…
• Oh, really…?

How to strategize your questions

Once you have brainstormed your list of questions, then it’s important to plan your questioning strategy.

Generally, it seems best to proceed from open-ended questions (“Please give us your vision of the X machine you want us to build for you”) to more specific questions (“Where should we place the cleanout door?” or “Do you want the color red for this flap?”) If you find the specific questions you ask are eliciting information that conflicts with earlier information, then you might need to go back to more open-ended questions (“Tell me again your vision of the human interface of this machine?”) Of course, probes and encouraging questions are always appropriate at any time. Catchall questions may be most helpful at the end of a question session.

How to ask good questions

Before you start popping questions, you must first establish a relationship with the interviewee or group being questioned. You must convince them of the following:

• I care about your issues.
• I am honest.
• I do not have an axe to grind
• I want to understand your truth.
• I meet my commitments.

You might accomplish this by a diplomatic statement of purpose (“We’re all interested in understanding your truth”) or by starting with a few throw-away questions (“How was your trip?” “How is the hotel?” “Is this your first time visiting Minnesota?”) These questions, which are not related to your area of discovery, will help toward them up and show them how easy it is to answer your questions. Then, you need to ask your questions in a non threatening manner:

• Aim for dialogue, not interrogation.
• Don’t use questions to state your opinion.
• If you have two questions in one, separate them out.
• Be aware of cultural insensitivity (not every culture likes being questioned). If you are questioning a person from one of these cultures, don’t overdo the eye contact; instead, focus on their lips.
• If you don’t get an immediate answer to your question, count silently to ten. This will allow the interviewee to formulate an answer. They will feel less rushed than if you jump in right away with a paraphrased question or a different question.

How to handle people answering the questions you ask

Listen. We can all learn to listen better.

• Use body language to show you are listening; lean toward your audience and focus on them when you’re not writing.
• Take notes.
• If you can get their permission, tape record the question-and-answer session. Use an unobtrusive but powerful mike (available from Radio Shack or other technical shops) with along cord that will allow you to place the recorder where it’s not so obvious. Be sure tousle fresh batteries in the recorder and ask someone else to monitor it and switch the tape if necessary.

How to answer questions that are asked of you

1. When you are answering questions, it is helpful to pause for a few seconds to think about your answer.
2. If you’re not sure how to answer a question, ask clarifying question to give yourself time to collect your thoughts.
3. If you are in front of a group of people, restate the question. It’s hard to tell who in the group might be hard of hearing, but expect that not all-in the audience will have heard the question. Be sure to restate the question exactly as it was asked (see next bullet).
4. If you need to rephrase the question in order to answer it, ask the questioner if your paraphrase/restatement is OK with him or her (this shows your respect for the questioner).
5. If you don’t have an answer or don’t want to give your answer right away, ask the group frothier answer.

Tips to becoming a better questioner

1. Be serious about your questioning skills. Most of us were never formally trained to ask questions, but this is a crucial skill for any profession.
2. Spend time with a 2-year-old. Record and review their questions if you can. What can you learn from them?
3. Practice being two years old again. When you’re on a walk or driving your car, start consciously forming and voicing questions (“Wonder why the snow is completely melted in that spot?” “Why is all the traffic in the left lane?”)
4. Play Jeopardy. A great website of Jeopardy games for teachers is at www.hardin.k12.ky.us/res_techn/countyjeopardygames.htm. To play the actual game online, go to http://zone.msn.com/en/jeopardy/default.htm.
5. Play 20 Questions. For a great online practice, go to http://y.20q.net:8095/btest and play Twenty Questions against artificial intelligence.
6. Make a list of the questions you don’t ask and write down what your ignorance cost you. The next time some “failure” occurs in your work group or in your own life, ask yourself “What question didn’t I ask that needed to be asked?”

REFERENCES

Brown, G. and Wragg, E. Questioning . London: Routledge, 1993.

Dillon, J. Questioning and discussion: A multidisciplinary approach . Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1988.

Hunkins, F. Teaching thinking through effective questioning . Boston: Christopher-Gordon, 1989.

Killenberg, George M. and Anderson, Rob . Before the Story : Interviewing and Communication Skills for Journalists . New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989.

Leeds, Dorothy. Smart Questions . New York: McGraw Hill Book Company, 1987.

Leeds, Dorothy. The 7 powers of questions: Secrets to Successful Communication in Life and at Work. New York : Perigee, 2000.

Metzler, Ken. Creative Interviewing (2 nd edition). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1989.

Payne, Stanley L. The Art of Asking Questions . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951.

Sudman, Seymour and Norman M. Bradburn. Asking Questions: A Practical Guide to Questionnaire Design . San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 1982.

Wilson Learning. The Counselor Salesperson . Eden Prairie, MN, 1994.

Campbell, John. “The interview: giving to get.” Folio: the Magazine for Magazine Management . March 15, 1993 v22 n5 p31 (2).

Hambleton, Vicki. “Winning interviews.” The Writer , March 2001 v 114 i3 p 43.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S., “Effective Interviewing: Get the Story.” Intercom , January 2000, 24-26.

Huff, Charlotte. “Using E-mail on the news trail.” American Journalism Review , Dec. 1997 v19 n10 pp.13 (2).

Lambe, Jennifer. “Techniques for Successful SME interviews.” Intercom , March 2000, 30-32.

Pickering, Marisue. “Communication” in Explorations, A Journal of Research of the University of Maine , Vol. 3, No. 1, Fall, 1986, pp. 16-19.

Power interviewing skills: Both sides of the desk (videocassette) Charleston , WV : Cambridge Research Group, 1999.

http://denham.typepad.com/km/2003/11/questions_matte.html contains interesting quotes and thoughts about the value of questions.

http://store.learn2.com/basket/assets/products/5385.asp?dept_id=47 is a course about asking questions and winning sales.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6300-1042590.html Great article: Why won’t techies ask questions?

www.businesslistening.com/listening_skills-4.php Very interesting site with a curriculum of business listening.

www.cafeshops.com/warposter/10811 You! Stop asking questions! 1940s propaganda revisited.

www.colorado.edu/gtp/resources/handbook/asking questions.html Strategy of asking questions

www.dorothyleeds.com

www.hic.com.au/hcisite2/doctools/course/write1.htm

www.stenhouse.com/pdfs/8156ch03.pdf Great quotes, great scientific discovery stuff.

www.workindex.com/extracts/mb0203-4.asp Interesting article about asking questions…and how that leads to other questions

www.yesmagazine.org/iraq/10questions.htm “10 questions Americans should be asking as America prepares to go to war [ Iraq].”