Content

• Steps
• Warning

Asking questions is a fundamental method of gathering information. However, as with everything else, you need the skills to ask questions. Asking open-ended questions is a friendly way to maintain a conversation with people. Knowing the difference between open and closed questions will be very helpful in your work and social life.

Steps

Part 1 of 2: Understanding open-ended questions

1. 

   Understand what open-ended questions are. Before you can start effectively asking open-ended questions, you need to know its definition. Open-ended questions are questions that you must answer with a complete answer to your knowledge and feelings. These questions are often objective, do not guide the respondent and the result is a long answer. Examples of open-ended questions:
   • "What happened after I left?"
   • "Why did the South leave before Russia?"
   • "Tell me about your workday."
   • "What do you think about this new TV show?"

2. 

   
   
   Don't ask closed questions. Closed questions are questions that you can answer with a single word or a short sentence. They are often used to obtain specific information and facts. An example of a closed question:
   • "Who will you choose?"
   • "Which brand of car are you using?"
   • "Have you talked to Thắng?"
   • "Will Russia return with the South?"
   • "Did you all eat the cake?"
   • Closed questions will put a conversation in a dead end. They do not cause people to continue to go into details, talk about themselves or provide additional information to the questioner.

3. 

   
   
   Recognize the characteristics of open-ended questions. Sometimes people think they have an open-ended question, but it is not. In order to effectively ask open-ended questions when you speak, you must understand their character.
   • They cause the person to stop and ponder.
   • The answers will not contain information about the event but emotions, opinions or ideas about a certain topic.
   • When using open-ended questions, the conversation control is transferred to the person asked, which initiates a conversation between the two. If the control still belongs only to the asker, you're using closed-ended questions. This technique makes the conversation feel more like an interview or questioning.
   • Avoid using questions that have the following characteristics: lead to an answer that contains real information about the incident; easy to answer; and answers are given quickly with little or no thought. Questions that yield the above are closed questions.

4. 

   
   
   Know how to use words in open-ended questions. To make sure you can actually ask open-ended questions, you need to understand the wording. Open-ended questions begin in very specific ways.
   • Open-ended questions begin with the following words: why, how, what, explain, tell about, or what do you think about ...
   • Although “tell about” is not a question type, the result is the same as when asking an open-ended question.
   • Closed questions also have their own type of language. If you want to avoid asking closed questions, don't use the following phrases: is it ... no, is ... no, not ... well, do you ... no.
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Part 2 of 2: Using open-ended questions

1. 

   Use open-ended questions to get a meaningful answer. One of the reasons to use open-ended questions is to get insightful, meaningful, and thoughtful answers. Asking questions in this way will make people more open, because you've shown that you are interested in what they say.
   • Don't use closed-ended questions when you want a meaningful answer. These questions can bring a conversation to a standstill. A single word answer can hardly help you to successfully build a conversation or a relationship.
   • Use open-ended questions when you want to get a detailed explanation to keep the conversation going.
   • Use open-ended questions to broaden a conversation after you've used a closed question to get information or get a brief answer.Take note of this short response or information and, based on that, continue building the conversation using open-ended questions.

2. 

   Determine the limit. Open-ended questions can sometimes be too broad. Word usage is very important when asking open-ended questions, especially when you are searching for a certain type of answer.
   • If you were planning an appointment with a friend, you might ask, "What are you looking for in a person?" They may point out physical characteristics when you want to ask about personality. Instead, ask specific questions with information: "What qualities do you look for in a person?"

3. 

   Question funnel. For this method, start with a narrow question, then move on to broader and more open content. This method is useful if you are in need of specifics from someone else. It also works if you're trying to draw other people's interest into a topic or find ways to make them feel more confident.
   • If you are trying to get the person to open up to open questions, try narrowing down the question first, then expanding as they get into the conversation. A good example is when talking to children. You can ask, "How was school today?". The answer will be: "Normal!". Ask again, "What homework have you been assigned to?". Thus, the story will continue.

4. 

   Continue suggesting. Use open-ended questions to pave the way for other questions. You can continue to ask after you have asked the question open or close.
   • Ask “why” or “how” to elicit and get a longer answer after asking a closed question.
   • When they have finished, ask an open-ended question that references or relates to what they just said. This will help keep the story flowing in an open and engaging way.

5. 

   Connect with people. Open questions are one of the best ways to connect with others through chat. Different from closed questions, open-ended questions encourage meaningful and in-depth communication between two people. Open-ended questions also showed that the questioner is interested in listening to the respondent's response.
   • Ask these questions to learn more about a person. Many times, open-ended questions encourage people to talk about themselves. By asking extensive questions, you can continue to learn a lot about the person.
   • Questions may show concern, empathy, or concern for the other person. An open question often results in a more personal and complex answer. When you ask "How do you feel" or "Why are you crying?", You are encouraging the person to share feelings with you. And the question "Are you okay?" just got them to answer "Yes" or "No".
   • Ask open-ended questions to initiate a conversation with quiet, shy, or newcomers. This can reassure them and encourage them to open up.
   • Use open-ended questions to avoid pressure, make it difficult, or interfere with your answers. Most open-ended questions are very neutral. Closing question wording can make people feel pressured to respond in a certain way. For example, a leading question would be “Did you find that dress beautiful?”, While an open-ended question would be “How did you see that dress?”. Tail parts like "isn't it?" can make a question guiding you, prompting people to agree with you. Stop using them with open-ended questions.
   • Be careful, don't ask people questions that are too personal or cause them to give out too much personal information. Estimate the respondents' comfort level. If you ask a question that is too personal, ask another less personal question.

6. 

   Ask questions that elicit multiple answers. Open-ended questions are very helpful in discussions. They encourage different answers, ideas and solutions. They also encourage both creative thinking and recognition of people's ideas.
   • Open-ended questions also encourage subtle language skills. You can use open-ended questions with children or foreign language learners to help stimulate their thinking and improve their language skills.

7. 

   Asking open-ended questions encourages people to talk. Chatting is an art that many people have difficulty implementing. Talking to an unfamiliar person can be intimidating, but open-ended questions can help encourage others to open up.

8. 

   Probe. Open-ended questions can be tentative. There are two different methods of asking tentative questions:
   • Inquire for clarification. If you ask an open-ended question and get a general answer, ask one more open-ended question to clarify the problem. For example, if you ask "Why do you like living here" and he says "because of the beautiful scenery", you can ask another question to clarify such as: "which scene is beautiful?".
   • Inquiry to complete information. When a complete and clear answer has been given after an open-ended question, you can ask a few more questions for more information. An example of a refinement question is "What else do you like?" or "What other reason do you have?"
   • Don't use the question "Is there anything else?". This is a closed question, and you may only get a "No" answer.

9. 

   Encourage creativity. One of the results that open-ended questions has is creativity. Certain open-ended questions will encourage people to broaden their boundaries.
   • Some open-ended questions require prediction. Questions like "Who will win the contest" or "What influence will this candidate have on us?" causing people to address possible situations.
   • These questions sometimes make people weigh the results. By asking "What if ..." or "what if ...", you are encouraging them to think about the cause and effect of a given situation.

10. 

    Try getting them to ask you open questions. This will make the conversation fairer and allow you to engage in conversation instead of just asking. To get someone to ask you a question, don't come up with the full details of the story or opinion at once.

11. 

    Listen. It doesn't make sense to ask the right questions if you don't listen. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking about the next question and forgetting to pay attention to the answer. You will lose the opportunity to ask prompting questions if you forget to listen. Try to focus on listening to the answer you want to receive. advertisement

Warning

• People who feel uncomfortable with answering open-ended questions are people who don't understand what you are going to do with their information, or who don't really want to answer. Can you explain a little more to them. If they still refuse, maybe the answer is too personal, or they don't want to dig into your topic.
• An open-ended question can lead to a long and bland answer. If you want them to be more concise and relevant, specifically ask the question.