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10 Question Commandments
The Art of Asking Good Questions
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…”
I’ve professionally asked questions for years. Clients pay me thousands of dollars to ask the questions I do. I’ve also asked recording artists who I do interviews with. I got good enough that A$AP Ferg told me our interview was the best one he’d ever done.
Questions are, still, a tricky business. A lot of questions vary by context — so while these principles hold up generally, there are some specific situations in which it won’t apply. Trust your judgment! Here are some things I learned along the way:
1. A question doesn’t have to be a reflection of you.
This frees you up to allow yourself to ask stupid questions, which is a big part of asking questions and investigating. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been in situations where somebody else asked a question we were all thinking, or, the number of times I’ve heard someone tell me a story like that. People with fixed mindsets or playing high stakes, finite, games might take issue with this point, but I think it’s good general advice.
