Questioning is the breeding ground for all teaching and learning process. It increases creativity and satisfies the sense of curiosity. Curiosity and creativity, two beautiful gifts of God, are very crucial in exploring the world learning new process and this will finally lead to progress in various fields of life. ‘Art of Questioning’
As our title says “questioning is an art” and the people who are good in this art will not only be boasting their learning process but also leading a successful life, because questioning is involved in all areas of life.
By this art, one can solve many social problems and build and carry-on good relationships. In a nutshell, it is one of the most important soft or life skills which one can have.
Attributes of good questions
- A question should have clear start so that it may not be wrongly interpreted.
- Questions should always be purposeful. Meaningless and extra questions not only destroy your credibility but also annoy the listener.
- It should be concise and to the point.
- A question should be thought provoking.
- It should be related to the topic and field of discussion.
Planning questions
Construct series of questions with proper logic instead of on-the-spot questions. You can make general to less general questions narrowing down to specificity. You may follow some techniques to construct effective questions.
- If no proper response is delivered, rephrase or add some explanation.
- Redirect your question if answer is not matching up with your question.
- Acknowledge the answers with a nod or giving short notes as, “I understand” or “This is one possibility”.
- If you know the answer, don’t pose question at all because listener is usually experienced enough to judge the situation and this behavior can ruin your credibility.
Types of questions
Following are the types of questions:
Thought provoking questions
These questions are used to make your audience think about the topic, to start a discussion and to break the ice.
Focusing questions
Focusing questions help to find more about topic reality.
Cognitive-memory questions
These questions demand to bring light on some lyric and fact.
These types of questions redirect your thoughts, learning and problem-solving statements and decisions.
