How Framing Questions Can Make or Break Communication

Think of your answer to this: Can we affect participation in a teaching environment by how we phrase our questions? The answer may surprise you.

 We all know the extroverts. They raise their hands for the majority of questions. They shoot out quick answers when we ask for them in spit-balling formats. We grade them as “5” on participation. But what about the silent ones?

The Mistake: Introverts in my classes did not ask questions about unclear topics because I did not phrase my feedback-seeking question in a way where they felt comfortable to speak up. As a result, my overall effectiveness was reduced.

The Cause: The question I used many, many, many times over and over in my classroom to analyze comprehension was “Does that makes sense?”

Why It Was Ineffective: Dr. Robert Cialdini, in his book Influence, describes the unwillingness of most people, especially introverts, to stand out from the crowd. He calls it “The Liking Affect”. As we’ve evolved over thousands of years, the human mind has adapted to unconsciously adopt what’s more known today as “Herd Mentality”. The “herd” of humanity don’t like people who resist the pull of the group. If everyone resisted, the collaboration would cease to exist. Therefore, people don’t like to say no in public. We would much rather say yes. I was asking a question in my classroom where the default answer was “no”. In order for a student to ask for clarification on a topic, he/she must say “no” to my “Does that make sense?” question. Social psychology research shows that most people, and especially introverts, are reluctant to say “no” in front of others. How I phrased my question, also known as “framing” (borrowed from Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman) caused me to not get the results I was looking for.

 The Solution: Every time I catch myself wanting to ask “Does that make sense?”, I replace it with “Is there anything about this that I can clarify?” The default answer is now “yes”. I’ve seen a noticeable increase in the amount of not-so-outgoing students seeking more information on the previously discussed topic.

 The Lesson: People are much more likely to interact with a question that delivers a “yes” answer versus a “no” answer. We do affect the participation level by how we phrase our questions.

Stoddard Worman is an enthusiastic and innovative Leadership Coach and Motivational Speaker with extensive experience in customer service management and employee engagement.  He is passionate about people and relationships.

Stoddard began his career as a cashier at a nationally recognized convenience store corporation and through his specialization in understanding the science of people, he has been promoted multiple times throughout his career.  Now connecting with people as a Regional Trainer, Stoddard has a direct impact on developing employees throughout the Midwest.

Stoddard believes in giving back to the community and Riley Children’s Foundation holds a special place in his heart.  He enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, and works hard to have the best yard in the neighborhood.  Stoddard is a Huffington Post contributor, and can be found on LinkedIn and Facebook. He can be reached directly at [email protected].