
Asking Questions More Effectively - wheels
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2010/06/06/asking-questions-more-effectively/
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CapitalistCartr
My favorite listening approach is silence. Instead of responding to speech by
the other person with my own talking, as is the usual style, I intentionally
remain silent, and it's amazing what people say to fill the "void".

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awolf
On the flip side of Mark's point, it seems that free-form questions are a
great opportunity for the answerer to steer the course of the rest of the
conversation.

Next time I'm going into an important meeting like the ones Mark describes in
his post I'll make sure to give some thought to how I want to answer these
wide questions. I'll make sure my long winded free-form answers plant the
right "nuggets" so that when the they start to drill down they are asking the
questions I want to answer.

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msuster
Mostly if you're doing the asking and you don't hear what you want you need a
plan anyways for what you'll drill down on. If you don't go into the meeting
with a pre-planned agenda you're unlikely to achieve objectives.

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MJR
I highly recommend this workshop/class if you're interested in not only
learning to ask questions more effectively but to also answer them more
effectively. It's called Precision Q & A. I have no connection to the company,
I just took the course and found it incredibly useful. I use these techniques
practically every day.

Here's a fact sheet/highlights - <http://www.vervago.com/PQFactSheet.pdf>
<http://www.vervago.com/program_services.html>

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bdickason
I love this approach. Lately, when I go in to meet with people about what
products they want or what they need to make their job easier, I just ask them
exactly that. "What do you need to make your job easier?" "What pisses you
off?" etc.

Just sit there and let the info flow :)

I work with a guy who is the exact opposite and i'm constantly glaring at him
to get him to stop talking!

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PidGin128
<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375>

