“The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge.”
(Thomas Berger)

As coaches we use a lot of different sorts of questions so I thought it was appropriate that I devoted a short time to a few of the different types of questions. Some you may have come across such as closed questions. Others like TED questions you may not have heard of with that label.

Personally, I think that all types of questions can have a place in a coaching conversation. As a coach, I think it’s about skilfully using the resources you have (in this case questions) to move your client in a useful direction.

Here are just some of the most common types of questions that you may find yourself using:

Open questions.

These are questions that start with Who, What, When, Where, Why and How. These types of questions are designed to allow answers that are more open with the scope of the information provided.

Examples of Open Questions include:

What prompted you to call today?

Who would think that about you

Pro’s to open questions:

Can provide lots of useful information.

Con’s to open questions:

In certain circumstances lots of information is not what you want; sometimes you just want to know something specific, i.e. If your client is willing to commit to a specific action.

The use of a why question is a post all for itself, but for now I will say that sometimes the use of why in a question encourages the client in a direction you don’t want them to go.

Closed questions

These are questions that only provide a closed selection of answers – traditionally yes or no, though as a coach you may also have come across a third answer a variation of “I don’t know.”

Examples of closed questions include:

Is that something you’d be willing to do?

Do you want to spend any more time on this topic?

Pros to closed questions:

Can provide a clear and decisive answer when used at an appropriate time.

Cons to a closed question:

Can sometimes miss opportunities to provide more information – for example, consider the difference between the questions:

Is there anything else? (A closed question)

And

What else? (An open question)

Alternative questions:

These are questions that provide a choice of different “solutions” in the question.

Examples of an alternative question:

Do you want tea or coffee?

Are you interested in job a, job b or something else?
Pros to alternative questions
This type of question can be used to transport the conversation to a different stage. For example, you can use it to check where a client is with making a decision between different choices.

Cons to alternative questions:

Sometimes the use of an alternative question can miss considering a different option. Personally, when using an alternative question I often like to include the option of  “or something else” as one choice as it provides the client the opportunity to consider a different solution if appropriate.

TED questions

This is a type of “question” I came across as a sales trainer. I’ve yet to track down the source to credit who created this label so if you know please let me know.

Technically, when used “correctly”, this is more of a command/instruction than a question but as it is one of the most effective techniques I know to find lots of information I am including this in this post.

TED Questions begin with Tell, Explain or Describe.

Examples of TED “questions”

Tell me more about that.

Explain the situation to me.

Describe that to me.

A common “mistake” when using these for the first time is to just add Tell, Explain or Describe to the start of an open question. This can reduce the scope in the range of answers you may get as it focuses your client attention to what is being asked in the open question.

Consider the following scenario:

A client has told you they want to discuss something to do with work.

“Tell me about what happened.” is potentially going to give you different answers to “Tell me more.” The first one is specifically asking for information about what actually happened, the second option gives an invite to provide more additional information.

Pros to a TED Question
It provides an invitation to provide lots of information. Potentially it can provide a “key” piece of information just using one “question” that may take several other types of question to find.

The order that someone tells you information can give an indication about how important they currently feel that is to them and their life.

Cons to a TED question.

It can provide lots of information! Sometimes the conversation just requires a yes or no commitment.

Depending upon the client, an invitation to provide such a broad range of answers can be confusing and they don’t know where to begin.

These are just some of the different types of questioning that you can use. For example, If you haven’t learnt about Incisive questions than you may want to check out Nancy Klines, “Time to think” as I don’t think I can do justice to what she describes in the book in just one post!

Questions can explore, provoke, enlighten and illuminate. They can move a coaching conversation in a specific direction, towards a conclusion or somewhere totally unexpected.

I invite you to consider the choice of types of questions you use and when, they all have their pros and con’s. I suggest that you use them deliberately knowing the potential outcome you want from asking that type of question.

What are your thoughts on questions?

Is there a different question type you think should be mentioned above?

If you’re honest, do you consciously consider the impact of a question before you ask it, it’s something you do as second nature, or do you do something else?

Tell me more below and then click submit.