I’m a bit of an anorak when it comes to questions. I watch interview shows and I listen to political programmes not for information, but to observe the questions being asked – or rather, the questions not being answered!!

How many times have you found yourself shouting at the radio in the car or at the television at home: “Let them answer!”?

How many times have you come away from a conversation having asked the killer question, but without having acquired the information?

So, what happened? All that preparation you put in. What went wrong? Did you give them a chance to answer?

Okay, so if we can shout at the radio/television, how can we keep ourselves on track? Who can we get to shout at us: “Let them answer”?

Let’s do it for ourselves!

Something that I find useful is to imagine that “?” has a sound. So, what would our conversations be like if “?” had a sound? Let’s imagine the sound is BOOM! I’m sure we would all learn to stop talking once we said “BOOM!”

Because “?” has no sound, and possibly because we find silence uncomfortable – we tend to keep talking.

Let’s change this, let’s break the habit. And let’s get the answers to our questions.

It’s that simple. Ask the question, “BOOM!” And then … shut up!

Good luck with this, and enjoy the silence from your side as you listen to the answers.