Asking a question? Stop speaking after the question mark
Manage episode 417147958 series 3573172
If you’re not 100% confident in your question, it can be tempting to cary on speaking after the question mark.
You know the thing: “Can you tell me a bit about how you got started? What was, um, what was it about the work you were doing? Why, so yeah, why did you want to pursue that line of work? Tell me, tell me about that. How did you…? Yep.”
If this sounds like you, I promise you’re not alone, and you’re not doing anything wrong. Often we want to provide maximum clarity so we can get a great answer from our guest. Other times we’re just not sure if the question was clear.
In both cases, you can trust your guest. Trust that, if they need clarification, they can ask for it. And the asking for clarification doesn’t have to make it into the edit. That makes it sound like your guest anticipated the meaning behind your question, and gave you a great, expansive answer.
So next time you’re interviewing someone, try asking your question, and then stop after the question mark. It might feel a bit bald and a bit sudden, but that’s most likely just thinking time, and it can be edited out.
Your questions are great. Stand by them!
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