Wednesday 13 August 2014

Blog Challenge Day 17: Q is for Questions

It's not about the question you ask but how do you answer the one you've been asked.
Anyone can ask a smart question hoping to surprise the other side but it is the answer that shows how does someone handle a surprise, how much do they know and how to do they cope with stress. Questions should be indirect and should be leaving space for the interviewee. Because questions shouldn't be the art in itself but they should provoque the answers. The answer which brings more understanding and encourages both sides to a further conversation.
 
On the Alpha course and in Christianity Explored the first (or one of the first) question you're being asked is: if you had a chance to ask God one questions, what would it be. Does our question  really matter? Being put in a such situation we'll only try to come up with something smarter, trickier and more creative only to show how much we know and how much others don't.
Or let's say - a journalist asks their interviewee a questions that leaves the person speechless - does it make sense? Yes, the journalist asked a brilliant question, showed up and prooved that knows more than the other person expected but is that the point of conducting an interview? Not necesary, in my opinion at least. You need to be firm when it comes to certain subjects but in general a question shouldn't sound like one but should just be a natural part of the conversation.
So, you have one and only chance to conduct an interview with yourself. What would you like to be asked today?

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