• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

what are some good open ended questions?

huxley

New Member
i want to try some thing out . put down some good open ended questions.
i just learned about open ended question : they help start conversations with strangers , and the keep the conversation going ,so the conversation flows and doesn't drag.

i think it will be a good topic to help people with conversation skills .

i want to learn more about it ,it will help me in book writing dialoque .

here's a good conversation starter or just when it starts to drag :
---if you had one wish what would it be?


so add your open ended questions or just just add to the topic . p.s those types of questions start with : what , tell me , how , ect ...

the are the opposite of closed question were you can only answer by ,stuff like , yup,yes ,no ,
ex: do you like your job? yes. rather than : tell me what you like about your job , how did you end up with a job like that.

thanks.
 
Asking open-ended questions is helpful to anyone, especially for those in customer service.

How can I be of help?
What does that mean to you?
What do you think will happen next?
How did you go about solving that problem?
How did you make that choice?
What information do you have about that?
What would you do differently next time?
Why do you feel that way?
How would you describe ___?
Would you tell me more about ___?
Could you help me understand ___?
Tell me about ___.
 
huxley said:
here's a good conversation starter or just when it starts to drag :
---if you had one wish what would it be?
My one wish is to never be asked that question.

How about, "Where would you prefer to be shot (if you had to be)?" I generally find people have to think for a moment. ;)

Um, or, in a non-sarcastic vein (maybe. I know no other way of life), you ask the question you always say to someone you don't know, " So. Uh...you come here a lot?" And then they tell you their life story.
 
if you had one wish what would it be?
I would wish for more happiness and kindness in the world. It may sound obvious..but think of how many problems that could solve.

How about, "Where would you prefer to be shot (if you had to be)?"
Probably my foot. I'm not really particular about which foot it is, but either one I suppose. I need my hands to write and read, and I don't want to go injuring parts of the body that are required for eating, seeing, surviving...

When you were little what did you dream of becoming (even if it may not have been possible)?
 
As a psych student, I must say that the ultimate open ended question is:

"Mmm-mmm. And...how does that make you feel?"
 
"Tell me, have you exposed yourself to the wonders of the writings of Guy Gavriel Kay?"

"What is the answer to life and the universe?"

"Don't you think the chef should have fried that with garlic instead of onions?"

ds
 
"The unanswerable question is the unmoved mover of the soul." - Sitaram

Carl Rogers is a good source

Rogerian questions are open-ended

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr.Z_(game)

http://www.adpca.org/Journal/Vol4_2/cissna.htm

http://www.mediacollege.com/journalism/interviews/open-ended-questions.html

The ability to ask open-ended questions is very important in many vocations, including education, counselling, mediation, sales, investigative work and journalism.

An open-ended question is designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the subject's own knowledge and/or feelings. It is the opposite of a closed-ended question, which encourages a short or single-word answer. Open-ended questions also tend to be more objective and less leading than closed-ended questions (see next page).

Open-ended questions typically begin with words such as "Why" and "How", or phrases such as "Tell me about...". Often they are not technically a question, but a statement which implicitly asks for a response.
Examples
Closed-Ended Question Open-Ended Question
Do you get on well with your boss? Tell me about your relationship with your boss.
Who will you vote for this election? What do you think about the two candidates in this election?
What colour shirt are you wearing? That's an interesting coloured shirt you're wearing.
How do you feel?

Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) open-ended question is "How does this make you feel?" or some variation thereof. This has become a cliché in both journalism and therapy. The reason it is so widely used is that it's so effective.

In journalism, stories are all about people and how they are affected by events. Audiences want to experience the emotion. Even though modern audiences tend to cringe at this question, it's so useful that it continues to be a standard tool.

In psychology, feelings and emotions are central to human behaviour. Therapists are naturally keen to ask questions about feelings.
 
One of my personal favs is "Why did you apply for this job?" If there could be such a mundane question. I would love to answer them "because I needed a job?!" Clearly you can see that I really don't like that question when they ask me it and I never seem to answer it quite the way they want it.
 
Back
Top