Why it’s important to ask stupid questions

by jackie on Apr 23, 2010 with 5 Comments

In a recent speaking skills workshop with a group of 13-14 year olds one of them asked a question and then immediately covered her mouth, giggled nervously and said “oh that was such a stupid question”. Her classmates’ response suggested otherwise as they first turned to her and then turned to me for the answer - because they wanted to know too and had not had the guts to ask! She was a hero!!

Here in Scotland we talk about “acting the daft laddie/lassie”  ( ATDL) when it comes to asking questions. There are a few of ways of looking at this

  • - ATDL when you suspect the person you are listening to is not telling the whole truth – asking apparently innocent questions to “encourage” them to elaborate and eventually disclose that that is indeed the case.
  • - ATDL if you believe that the speaker is not sure of their content  – this can go either way though and it is a tricky call to show someone up in public for not knowing what they are talking about . This is where ATDL later in a personal conversation would be best in my opinion.
  • - ATDL if you think that it would benefit everyone – like in the class situation mentioned at the start. Personally I am quite happy to be the one to ask the “daft lassie” question if I sense that as a group we are not clear. Some people do this really well especially when you know that they probably do know the answer but they want to support and help others so stick their hand up and go for it…

What do you think?

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5 Comments / Leave a comment »
  • Wally Bock Apr 23, 2010 at 15:00

    And we might add – ADTL whenever you wonder if you should.

  • Brad Shorr Apr 23, 2010 at 16:01

    Hi Jackie, Great expression, acting the daft laddie/lassie. You’ve really nailed the value in asking “dumb” questions. There’s such an art to asking questions – and as you illustrate so well, getting an answer may not always be the prime objective!

    Another way of ATDL is to “play the devil’s advocate.” It’s a good way to take up a contrary position and provoke a constructive conversation on a topic that may be more problematic than people perceive at first glance.

  • jackie Apr 23, 2010 at 16:56

    Wally – indeed we should…thanks for pointing that out!

  • jackie Apr 23, 2010 at 16:57

    Thanks for mentioning “playing devil’s advocate”, Brad…part of the same thing I think. Either way much better than staying quiet and always wondering!

  • uberVU – social comments Apr 26, 2010 at 17:15

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by jackiecameron1: Why it’s important to ask stupid questions – new blog post http://bit.ly/ajrWCC...

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