How can you recognise a great question when you see one?

From the beginning of time, the world's greatest minds and achievers have realised the power of great questions to transform people's lives.

Nothing has such power to cause a complete mental turnaround of fortunes and unlock new possibilities as a really good question!

Great questions get our brains firing, spark curiosity, get us to see more clearly, create new ideas and ideas (well, good ones that are acted on) lead to new opportunities and a brighter future.

So how can you recognise a great question when you see one?

Fortunately there are four simple elements that let you know.

Great questions...

1. Significantly Alter The Point of View The Listener Is Holding

Great questions make the frame of reference the listener is holding change.

Even a small change in the presuppositions (when you know what you are doing) can generate new distinctions, insights and ah-ha moments previously not present within the space the client is thinking about the topic under discussion.

For example, a tiny change of just one word in your question, can move the listener far beyond the frame of reference they have been holding, and unlock new ideas and new possibilities.

This is possible because great questions also have the property of having great salience. They are immediately recognised as relevant and pertinent to the topic under discussion.

The second element of great question is they...

2. Usefully Constrain or Expand The Problem/Solution Space

Great questions direct attention in far more useful ways.

They shape the mental space the client is focused on such that NEW ways of thinking, feeling and acting becomes possible.

Therefore great questions...

• Constrain, reduce or eliminate the problem space so it no longer is the dominant point of focus
• Moves the ‘problem space’ (to a space where something else greater/better/entirely different is possible)
• Expands the solution space so that better or entirely different possibilities become viable and actionable
• Challenges (and changes) the criteria the client is using so different choices can be made and a new frame of reference can be created

Great questions also...

3. Moves Attention & Focuses Awareness In Useful Ways

Our life and the results we create are a reflection of where and how we have placed and used our attention. So great questions move attention and focus awareness in ways where new results become possible.

There are many ways one can do this, by far one of the most powerful is learning how to use submodalities as a central part of your questions so you can create specific effects intentionally within the person you are speaking with.

This is where a really great question can literally cause a problem to vanish and the path forward becomes straightforward and clear.

Lastly great questions are...

4. Structured & Communicated In A Way That Creates Impact

As you know, every question has presuppositions. Great questions are put in a form that impact how the client thinks, feels and acts. This includes both what you say and how you say it (i.e. the role of non-verbals, your questioning style and paralinguistics.)

Hence, great questions are designed to influence the client on many different levels. When you learn how to ask great questions, you aren't just looking to influence a person's thoughts, but through the intelligent use of questions, you will effect their awareness, their state, their strategies and ultimately the entire system to unlock new choices, possibilities and achievements.

This kind of skill is uncommon. It's also VERY powerful. Most NLPers, coaches, change agents and professionals haven't been taught how to ask great questions. At best they've been given a pre-written list of questions that are 'supposed' to work, but rarely have the impact they desire.

Yet when you can generate great questions that create these kind effects outlined above, your friends, family, colleagues and clients will start to see you as indispensable. The go-to person. The one they turn to for input and trusted advice...

Businesses also LOVE people who can ask great questions, it leads to far better decisions and greater profits being made.

It all starts by learning to listen and turn what you hear into the kind of questions that cause people to transform. We're just getting started. I'll be sharing more on how exactly you can learn to do this soon so you can become practically indispensable, even in a challenging economy.

Stay tuned,

Tom