Questions
In order for us to listen, the other person must open up his mouth and talk. Asking questions encourages his participation in the discussion. He may seem reluctant or slow to respond, but do not let this discourage the pursuit of meaningful dialogue. That person might be unaccustomed to the attention or even suspicious as to why anyone would find him interesting. Persist with a genuine, caring attitude and honest motive. You will eventually coax a detailed and engrossing response. And if you discover his hot button, prepare for the sleeper to awaken.
13 comments:
The sleeping monster awakes! Great photo. And you're right...everyone has a hot botton, but sometimes we regret finding it! Yours is a great topic.
Questions are good and the only way we get answers to the questions we have is if we ask them.
The cat picture was pivotal. Cool.
Without questions being asked one will never learn.
Very well written.
Yvonne.
People and questions are so tricky sometimes. I'm convinced the reason why people quit questioning is because they stopped getting answers and never learned how to find answers on their own.
If you don't know, you can always learn!! Questions are a good thing. :)
What lovely teeth you have! Questions are a boon for those who don't like small talk.
Yvonne, sometimes you don't want to find it!
Tamara, Calvin was lovely all the way around.
I've been out all morning and am leaving to teach a seminar here shortly. So I'll try to catch up with everyone tomorrow.
I would be suspicious too. But, I'm from NY.
:)
Heather
My wife is a random question generator. I told her last night, in fact, that we should make a calendar of Mandy's 101 Random Questions, with answers the following day.
For instance: How do you find the exact center of a city? I mean, if it's not a circle or a perfect square, how do you find the exact precise middle?
Or, watching the news and they mention the pollen counts: How do they measure pollen counts, anyway?
Those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I am constantly either making things up so I look smart, or dodging off to Google so I can look smart later.
No shortage of questions in my house!
Oh, and I tell her that asking questions is the sign of a brilliant mind.
- Eric
I like your description of questioning.
Wonderful post with the excerpt from your book. We are delighted to have you touring in May with the Working Writer's Club. All the best!
I've gotten good at asking questions to draw people out as a teacher. Now I try to do it with my characters and figure out how they would answer and react.
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