As a facilitator, asking meaningful questions is one of the most important skills you have, whether it is to prompt individual reflection, discussion, and/or writing. Below are some guidelines for asking questions that will encourage participants to engage in critical thinking and deep reflection.

Guidelines:

• Ask questions that are thought-provoking.
• Ask open-ended questions. Ensure your questions have more than one right answer (e.g., 鈥渨hat changes could improve X?鈥�).
• Ensure your questions are clear. Effective questions contain enough information so the participants can easily identify what they are asked to reflect on (e.g., 鈥済iven the conditions I just described, what changes might lead to a more positive outcome?鈥�).
• Be open-minded. Ensure the questions are not slanted toward a particular point of view (e.g., 鈥渨hy do you think X is corrupt?鈥�).
• Provoke analysis and reflection (e.g., 鈥渉ow would you explain鈥︹�� or 鈥渨hy鈥︹��).
• Promote thinking about cause and effect (e.g., 鈥渨hat are the causes of鈥︹��).
• Cause dissonance and/or act as the 鈥渄evil鈥檚 advocate鈥� (e.g., 鈥渨hy would some think otherwise?鈥� or 鈥渨hat is an alternative point of view?鈥�).
• Allow participants to compare and contrast (e.g., 鈥渨hat is the difference between鈥︹�� or 鈥渨hat is the relationship鈥︹��).
• Provide space for participants to respond to questions before jumping in to reframe the question. Consider waiting at least three seconds (tip: count to ~5) before speaking. For a virtual workshop, allow a longer delay for participants to think and type/select their response, consider waiting at least ten seconds
• Do not answer your own questions.
• For virtual workshops, you may want to start by asking simple yes or no questions and allow participants to answer in the chat, or having an interactive poll as a way to get participants engaged .