Dawn Newton, director, Morello Marketing Visit the CharityComms website to view slides from past events, see what events we have coming up and to check out what else we do: www.charitycomms.org.uk

1. Welcome to
Asking
Better
Questions

2. Your Trainer:
Dawn Newton - Morello Training
Clients include:
▪ Mind
▪ Carers Network
▪ Sense
▪ Sightsavers
▪ St John Ambulance
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Charity Meetup - Friendly
Networking and Skills Sharing Events
www.morellomarketing.com/charitymeetup

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Session Outline
1. Why develop questioning skills
2. How to develop questioning
skills
3. Practicing questioning skills

4. Game
1.Find a person you have not met yet
2.Introduce yourselves (briefly)
3.Ask each other –
What did you discover about yourself
in the last 12 months?

5. 1.Why develop your
questioning skills?
“The best leaders are the best note-takers,
best askers and best learners.”
- Tom Peters
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Why are Questions Important?
1. Questions can open our
minds to new
possibilities or help
clarify solutions to
problems.
2. Questioning skills are
crucial to work well with
others and good leaders
ask great questions.

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3. Being bold enough to ask a question in
a meeting can transform the
discussion, and change the mood for
the better.
4. Enhance interactions and meetings by
enhancing your repertoire of questions.
Stay curious!

8. “One of the fastest ways to
find the solution to an issue or
challenge you are facing is to
ask the right questions.
– Robin S. Sharma
8
[

9. Why develop our questioning skills?
▪ You only get answers to questions you ask.
▪ Questions unlock and open doors.
▪ Questions are the most effective means of
connecting with people.
▪ Questions cultivate humility.
9Source: Maxwell's book, "Good Leaders Ask Great Questions"

10. Skill is required to
ask the right
question in each
circumstance

11. Instruction vs Coaching
Would you rather:
▪ Be told how to do something or inspired to
find your own way?
▪ Work with a person who knows everything?
▪ Be a collaborator who questions, listens,
collaborates, coaches and serves?

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Source:
https://learn.tearfund.org/en/resources/publications/footsteps/footsteps_81-
90/footsteps_84/bringing_out_the_best_in_people/

13. We are losing the ability to listen

14. “Most people do not
listen with the intent
to understand;
They listen with
the intent to reply”
- Steven Covey

15. Levels of Listening
Level 1
Internal Listening
Level 2
Active Listening
Level 3
360 Listening
Awareness
Inner dialogue, “me”, my feelings,
what I want to say, missing clues
Non judgemental, being present,
repeating, paraphrasing, reflecting,
use of silence, asking questions
Holding the space, using senses,
intuition, energy

16. “A leader's job is not to do the
work for others, it's to help
others figure out how to do it
themselves, to get things done,
and to succeed beyond what
they thought possible.”
- Simon Sinek

17. “The main premise of appreciative
inquiry is that positive questions,
focusing on strengths and assets,
tend to yield more effective results
than negative questions focusing on
problems or deficits.”
— Warren Berger
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18. 2. How to develop
questioning skills
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20. Subconscious
Behaviour
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“95% of your behaviour is driven by
your subconscious programming, which
means you function more in reaction
than conscious choice.
If you want to change your behaviour,
you must first become aware of your
subconscious drives. Then you know
when and how to practice choosing
something better.” - Kimberly Giles
Claritypoint Coaching Academy

21. Open and Closed Questions
Closed
A closed question can be answered
with either a single word or a short
phrase. (Often Yes/No)
How they are helpful:
▫ They give you facts.
▫ They are easy to answer.
▫ They are quick to answer.
▫ They keep control of the
conversation with the questioner.
Open
An open question is likely to receive a
long answer.
How they are helpful:
▫ They ask the respondent to think
and reflect.
▫ They will give you opinions and
feelings.
▫ They hand control of the
conversation to the respondent
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What questions are the least
threatening as they seek
understanding about behaviour
and the environment.
Examples to try:
▫ What were the circumstances?
▫ What did you think?
▫ What can we do about it??
Experimenting with Open Questions
What?

23. How?
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How questions are slightly more
threatening as they seek
understanding about actions and
capabilities
Examples to try:
▫ How did it happen?
▫ How does this work?
▫ How was the meeting?
Experimenting with Open Questions

24. Why?
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Care must be taken with the use of Why?
questions as they seek to understand a
person’s values and start to pry at their
identity.
Examples to try:
▫ Why did you do it??
If you ask this as the first question it is likely to provoke a
negative / defensive response.
▫ Why are you (so) late / early?
▫ Why did you not come for lunch?
Experimenting with Open Questions

25. ““GET TOUGH. Mental and spiritual
toughness go together. Deepen your
commitment to your most essential
values and mentally rehearse the
specific ways you can take positive
action.” - Gary Chapman
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26. Clarifying
questions
Q. Tell me more about x …
Very useful question for many different situations
Q. How should our success be
measured?
Q. If you could do it over again,
what would you do differently?
Q. What are we missing? What have
we not considered?
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27. Experimenting with
Questions
Let’s start to make the questions our own
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Question pass the parcel:
• One person presents a problem
• First person asks an open question
• Second person asks a different question
Avoid
using
WHY

28. Try at a future meeting:
Oprah Winfrey starts every meetings by asking:
“What is our intention for this meeting?
What’s important?
What matters?”
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30. Breaking
Free of
Blocks
Resistance to new
initiatives
Q. What will be
the benefits of
change?
Opposing views
Q. I hear your
views, can I have
the opportunity to
share my differing
point of view?
If you get stuck in
a negative loop
Q. What is
possible?
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Stuck on an
obstacle
Q. How would the
following day look
like (without this
problem)?

31. 2. Practicing
questioning skills
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Socrates’ way of examining people was using the
Socratic method. He believed that this made people
more aware of their ignorance and therefore, leads
to humility and modesty.

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33. “I define connection as the energy that
exists between people when they feel
seen, heard, and valued; when they
can give and receive without
judgment; and when they derive
sustenance and strength from the
relationship. – Brené Brown
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34. Mastermind
Group
Principles
Bids to raise problem
Uninterupted sharing
Group agrees agenda
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No
Judgement

35. Principles
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▪ People have their own solutions within
themselves
▪ If someone is given access to the
resources they need, they will make
better choices
▪ Individual and organisational success
benefits from behavioural flexibility.

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38. Mini Mastermind
• Share live issues & one chosen
• Briefly describe issue
• Define what help you would like
• The group asks questions
• Some solutions can be offered at the end
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39. Reflection
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▪ What resonated with you?
▪ What surprised you?
▪ What will you try out?
▪ What worked well?
▪ What was challenging?

40. Change Within
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▪ Ongoing support programme
▪ Mastermind / Action Learning Sets
▪ Themed groups of 6 – 10 people meet monthly
“I was genuinely surprised at how it allowed me to view my issues
from a completely different perspective. It was a magical,
serendipitous moment where I experienced what it was like to think
outside myself by utilising what was already within.” - Paul

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https://dribbble.com/shots/3548319-Wonder-Woman#shot-description
Be Bold! Good Luck!

42. Thanks!
Any questions?
Dawn@morellotraining.co.uk
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@goreckidawn
Dawn.Newton

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44. Getting ahead in your
comms career
20 June 2019
London
#CommsCareer

45. Visit the CharityComms website to view
slides from past events, see what events
we have coming up and to check out
what else we do:
www.charitycomms.org.uk