What is an effective question? The adage “there’s no such thing as a stupid question” may ring true, but there is such a thing as a poorly phrased question. What about the questions asked to gain insight, which only receive flat answers? Or questions aimed at starting a discussion, but somehow fall flat?
Interview professionals like journalists, counselors and educators are aware of a variety of skills that can help formulate an effective question. The following techniques are just a few of the things we can do to get more out of questions and answers.
The Five W’s and H
A cornerstone for journalism, the "Five W’s and H" are Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. As the Northern Illinois University points out in this editing exercise, all news stories will contain some, if not all, of these elements to convey information.
Conversely, the Five W’s and H can be used to gain information. Starting with one of the Five W’s or H creates an open-ended question, which means people must answer with more than just a “yes” or “no.”
For example, asking “did you go to the shops?” could cause a yes/no response which does not result in the knowledge of where that person was, but asking “where did you go?” or “why are you late?” facilitates a more comprehensive answer.
Loaded questions
A loaded question is one which assumes something of the person responding, such as “don’t you think you’re being stupid?” or “did you think you could get away with that?”
Because the asker has already made an assumption about the responder, loaded questions often result in a knee-jerk “yes” or “no” answer. In some instances these questions can cause arguments and, as this university exercise highlights, often a complex response is needed to clear up any differences in opinions.
Double-barreled questions
Two questions asked in quick succession without waiting for an answer are often known as double-barreled questions because of their speed, and tend to lead to answers which only cover one part of the question.
A good example of double-barreled questions can be seen in most media conferences, where journalists will try to ask as many questions as they can in the hopes of getting an acceptable response.
However, politicians and spokespeople are not the only ones who seem to side-step these types of questions. If asked: “did you finish that assignment? How did you go?” many people would simply respond to the question which appealed to them the most. This makes double-barreled questions inaccurate for trying to gain specific information.
Opening questions
In most talk shows the host will, at some stage, use this technique on guests. Take the following example, for instance:
HOST: I was reading your latest book, and it struck me how popular vampire fiction has become in recent years. What inspired you to start writing in a genre that was, until quite recently, fairly dormant?
Not only does this encourage a longer response, it also engages the guests and generates a more conversational tone to the interview. Asking questions in this way is most effective when a discussion and sharing of information and perspectives is the desired outcome.
Amy Bradney-George - Amy is an Australian actor and writer currently living in Melbourne, Australia. Her published writing work includes articles in several ...
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