Asking questions and answering them is an art form that will demand practice. Here are some tips for asking questions.
1. Keep your questions short and simple. Make them easy to understand.
2. Ask open-ended questions for opinions and feelings. They start with “Why…?” “What about…?” “How…?”
3. Ask a close-ended question for specific information. It will start with “Do you…?” “Who…?” “When…?”
4. A hypothetical question is a great way of opening a discussion. “What would you do if….?
5. Allow 9 seconds to pass when you are asking a question of the audience. Scan the room for volunteers. Many times trainers are too quick and answer their own question. Sometimes, it takes that long for participants to formulate a response.
6. If the participants look perplexed by your question, rephrase it.
7. If someone’s answer is way off, avoid embarrassing the participant. Say, “What I’m really looking for is more along the lines of….”
8. Ask a question and offer a multiple choice of answers. Ask the learners to raise their hands for A, B, C, etc. The ones who get it wrong will still remain fairly anonymous and won’t be embarrassed.
9. Invite the learners to form dyads or triads with each other. Each will get an opportunity to ask a question abut something she just learned. One in the group might report what the questions and answers were for the others at the table.
10. Ask them to write a question on an index card, and write the answer on the back. Trade it with a partner showing only the question side of your card. The partner will write the answer down underneath your question. Then, check each answer amongst the duo.
11. For a real curve ball, ask a question and then call on someone to pick someone else in the class to answer the question. Such a random chance of being called gets the participants’ attention right away.
12. Avoid calling on the same person repeatedly. The other participants will start to feel like spectators to a private conversation.
13. Oh-oh! Your mind just went blank. You forgot where you are in your presentation; you lost your place. You don’t want to say, “Where was I?” Or, “Can anybody tell me what I was talking about?” Now is the time to ask a rhetorical question. “How can you apply what we just covered, back on the job?”
14. Don’t endorse answers that are clearly wrong. You can add, “Let me hear from someone else.” A simple nod or thank you will also suffice.
15. Avoid repetitive statements in your questions. Constantly saying “like” or “ya know” becomes distracting. Your participants will probably begin counting the times you do that rather than answering the question.
Asking questions and asking the right ones increases learner participation and allows you to measure if they are learning.