Bad questions

Recently, I wrote about why it is so important to ask questions. But not all questions are good ways to open up the conversation.

But it’s easy to ask questions that aren’t helpful.

Here are some bad ways to ask questions:

• Yes, or no questions

• Loaded questions, where the “right” answer (the one you believe is right) is obvious or even not obvious, but subtle.

• Stacked questions where you ask more than one at a time.

• “Why do you think that?” Might seems like an innocuous good open-ended question, but it can come off as attacking.  

• No win questions: the iconic question in this category is “When did you start beating your wife?” – these are questions that assume something and sound accusatory.

Remember, your goal is to build back a relationship.

For good question suggestions, see my newsletter on asking questions.