What to Do When You Really Want to Encourage People to Ask Questions

It’s simple, really. The thing to do when you encourage people to ask questions is to give them a chance to ask their questions. I’ve noticed that when people have important information to share and an eagerness to share it, they sometimes encourage their listeners to ask questions; then they act in a way that stifles those very listeners. For example:

• A senior manager gave a presentation to customers to explain the complex computer system her team was developing for them. Before she began, she told them they could ask questions at any point. Then she launched into a fast-paced, techie-oriented, catch-me-if-you-can presentation. She later told me she couldn’t understand why no one asked any questions. She never considered who her audience was: not her technology peers, but nontechnical business folks.
• An instructor periodically stopped abruptly during his class and asked students if they had any questions. After waiting a full quarter-second, he resumed his teaching. He concluded that because students asked so few questions, they must have understood the material the first time through. This is a common situation: not waiting long enough for students to raise their hands.
• A doctor told me he was going to explain his recommendations and I could feel free to ask questions. Then he talked nonstop. Not to be deterred, I interrupted him repeatedly, but each question I asked seemed like an intrusion into his fact-filled spoutings. The responsibility for good doctor-patient communication shouldn’t fall entirely on the patient’s shoulders.

Assuming that these people were genuinely willing to answer questions, they might have done things differently.

• The senior manager could have spoken more slowly—and much less technically—to make her information relevant to her audience and easier to absorb. She might have stopped periodically and explicitly invited questions. Because people might have felt too intimidated to ask questions during the presentation, she might have invited questions afterward by email.
• The instructor might have scheduled a Q&A period after each segment or provided quiet time for students to reflect on what they’d heard and to identify their questions. When he paused to ask if they had any questions, he should have waited several seconds so that those who needed time to organize their thoughts could do so. In fact, inviting questions and using various approaches to answer them can help keep students actively involved.
• The doctor might have periodically asked what questions I had or even just allowed some silence after each sentence. Then I wouldn’t have had to compete for air time. As it is, the advent of digital record keeping has made it ever more important for doctors to pay explicit attention to their patients.

People who really do welcome questions need to make sure their behavior supports their good intentions.