Do you come here often?
Featured in the Listening Skills training manual
By Jessica Madge
Category: Communication Skills
Credit price: 3 download credits (Single user)
Unskilled listeners often fall into the trap of asking too many closed questions. Closed questions invite very short answers and fail to open up the conversation. However, they are useful for obtaining specific information and for bringing conversations to a close. Open questions invite longer answers, and thus encourage the talker to share information and explain their feelings. Good listeners are able to ask open and closed questions at appropriate moments. In interviews and meeting of various kinds and when dealing with customer, asking questions of the right kind enables us to obtain information and to steer conversations towards the outcome we desire.
After an introductory explanation of the differences between open and closed questions, participants complete a paper-and-pencil exercise to check their understanding. This is followed by an exercise which involves asking a series of closed questions then a series of open questions. Next, there is another exercise in which participants use open and closed questions to find out the name of a famous person. Finally, they are asked to mingle, as at a cocktail party, asking first closed, and then open questions.
Who is it for: This training activity is intended for use by trainers to introduce participants to the skills of asking open and closed questions.
| Resource Type: | Activity |
| Min Group Size: | 4 |
| Max Group Size: | 20 |
| Typical Duration: | 02:20:00 |
| No of Pages: | 17 |
Resources: View standard resources for Fenman training activities
Additional resources: Sheets of adhesive labels, A tray of drinks, A bell or a whistle, Clipboards for participants (optional).
Purpose: This training activity is a basic, introductory one. It could be used on a variety of training courses, such as interviewing, appraisal, absence management, counselling, assertiveness, negotiation and customer service.
Download the training activity, Do you come here often? as featured in the Fenman training manual; Listening Skills