Art of Asking

Many people shy away from putting their queries forward. They think that asking questions would create an impression about them being rude, intrusive, or pesky. Although there are certain situations where it is best to refrain from putting your queries forward, asking questions is not some scornful activity in itself.

On the contrary, you could say that we human beings can attribute whatever we have learnt and our entire development curve to our propensity of asking questions. The trick is in seeking purposeful answers that the person can connect with and identify the thought behind the question.

Questions can be broadly classified under two categories −

• Open-ended questions − These questions are also known as the "Wh-questions" as they are usually preceded by "who, when, where, what, how, and why". While answering these questions, people tend to focus more on giving descriptive answers. Example − “Why did you think this was the best decision of your life?"

• Close-ended questions − These questions can be easily answered in a few words, even with a simple 'yes' or 'no'. They are asked to get a quick response from the listener about facts and figures. The listener tends to put more stress on his memory as compared to processing thoughts while answering these questions. Example − “Are you a resident citizen of this country?”