Questions are a key communication tool. If you don't ask, - how are you supposed to find out?
As trainers, we spend a lot of time reassuring our students that if they are in any doubt about anything - please ask. And so we use phrases like 'The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!and 'There's no need not to put your hand up.'
As trainers ourselves, however, using questions is the best way of finding out how we are doing, how the students are doing, and whether we are on track with the training.
As well as being used to find out or test understanding, questions can be used to build relationships with the students and can be used as a form of thermometer to check the temperature of the room and to make sure everybody is happy or keeping up.
Most people would be aware of the two basic forms of question - 'Open' and 'Closed', are we not?
Open questions, in simplest terms, start with; What, Why, When, How, Where and Who, and therefore should extract a bit more of an answer than a simple 'Yes / No'
Closed questions usually start with a verb and therefore will more than likely be answered (or dismissed)'Yes' or 'No'.
There are 4 reasons you may wish to ask a question in a Workshop or Training Session:
1 To gain attention
2 To give or gain information
(Note above: I structured the definition of Open and Closed questions in terms of a question, to which I chose to 'assume' everybody already knew the answer).
3 To get people thinking (Maybe challenging previous thinking or giving a simple task to solve) 4 To determine direction or get feedback. ('Does that make sense?' 'Are we OK?' 'Am I going too fast?')
And there are 4 styles of Workshop Question
1 Directed to a specific person (This can be dangerous, as it reminds most of us of a time at school when a teacher fired questions to which we either did not know the answer - or even worse, they chose not to listen, - and so were made to feel quite stupid. One way of overcoming this is to prepare an individual or a group of people by saying for instance: 'In a moment I am going to ask you a specific question on this.' That way any unnecessary embarrassment should be avoided.)
2 Directed to the whole group (Less threatening, but the potential danger is that you always get the same person answering, and those who want to hide, or not participate at all, can slip quietly into the shadows.)
3 Relaying a question from an individual back to the group (Specific questions directed to you, the trainer, have the danger of becoming a two way conversation and so shutting out other participants and therefore at the same time giving them an excuse for letting their attention wander. So offering the question to the room maintains involvement. It is also a good way of testing how well things are sinking in.)
4 Relaying a question back to the questioner (Some people ask a question just for reassurance. And relaying the question straight back to the questioner allows them quickly to settle the issue in their mind and move on.)
Marrying the good use of questions with keen listening skills are the key signs, not just of a good trainer, but of a good all-round communicator.
Author Resource:
The College of Public Speaking's Trainng the Trainer Programme runs courses and workshops regularly in London and the South-East of England. It is the only Training the Trainer opportunity currently accredited by Edexcel. Train the Trainer Training the Trainer
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