Hi Friend,
Last week, I shared the questions I love asking *before* I plan a presentation. But recently, someone very smart*** shared another question with me—their “secret weapon” for gathering deep intel on a specific audience or group of participants.
It’s a question that allows you to unlock a mountain of information from the other people in the room.
Are you ready?
Here it is:
What question should I be asking?
Simple, right?
This person explained that it’s not something they lead with, but rather the question they use to take the conversation further, once the obvious questions have been asked. And, they added, tone matters. We may be asking about the elephant in the room—We don’t need to be creepy about it, just open and kind.
The power of this question is that it does a few things simultaneously:
It shows humility. That question signals that YOU know the limits of your knowledge, and that you are open to the possibility of gaining a different perspective on something. It shows that you are okay being wrong, or only partially right.
It shows curiosity. Someone who asks this question wants to know the REAL story.
Plus, it gives you a chance to course-correct if you haven’t been following the right line of thinking/assuming/questioning.
What do all of these things add up to?
TRUST. Trust which can lead to gathering more (and higher quality) information.
Your thought experiment this week is to play with this question.
What question should I be asking?
What meetings do you have this week that might lend themselves to asking this? And remember … it’s not a question you lead with. It’s a question you roll out once you’re getting ready to close.
Shine on,
B
***For the LIFE of me, I cannot remember who told me this beautiful piece of advice. If it was you, please tell me. And I will shout your name from the rooftops! Or keep it our secret. It’s your call. 😉
P.S. For the women out there… I met two PHENOMENAL communication/voice coaches who specialize in AMPLIFYING women’s voices.
They are hosting the most insanely great event called POWER/PLAY in NY for women (affectionately nicknamed “Bad Bitch Summer Camp” … description below).
In case you were looking for a sign from the Universe that you should do something for yourself … something that amplifies who you are and how you roll, this is it.
Check out the description … I mean, how rad does this sound?? They have a few spaces left, and I have a feeling one of y’all might need to be filling those spaces.
Check it out, and let them know I sent you.
Big hugs,
B
