How - What - When - Where - Why - Who
- Which Open Question do you use?

Use Open Questions to take you on a Journey of Discovery.

Use Open Questions first to discover information, needs or feelings. Open Questions are posed in such a way that it is not possible for the person you are asking to restrict a response to a "Yes" or "No"

Open Questions usually start with one of Kipling's six serving men. Sometimes they may use "which" as an alternative. They are designed to get the person you are asking to open up on a subject.

"Which is the fastest way to town?"
"What is the fastest way to town?"
"How do I get to town fastest?"

All these options require the responder to explain to you how you get to town in the fastest way. What would happen if you had asked a closed question instead?

"Is there a fastest way to town?"

You might just get the same answer as the first three questions. On the other hand you risk getting a "Yup" or a "Nope" which would leave you none the wiser. You would not get that answer to any of the three similar open questions.

There are degrees of openness. The more open your question the more you are allowing the responder to tell you about features or feelings that they have on the subject or associate with the person asking the question.

"Which is way to town?"
"What is the way to town?"
"How do I get to town?"

Will elicit a response that will not necessarily put you on the fastest route but will get you there under conditions that the responder feels most comfortable with. You may hear the simplest route to describe to get you there.

The most open of questions on this theme would simply be:

"Which way?"

Can you see from this example that the most open question lifts all possible restrictions on the answer? It is usually themost open question that the responder will feel most comfortable with because it allows him to decide what is important.

There is no way anyone will feel the most open question traps them into a corner.

A stranger you were asking directions might feel a little dumbfounded and may be even threatened by this last question. Even the most open question needs to be delivered in context. You always needs to be aware that the questioner and the questioned may have different ideas as to what that context is. That's why you may need further questions to clarify. Once again open questions will tend to be perceived as the most friendly and the least threatening.

"Why is that the fastest route?"

You may already have some knowledge on how to get to town and want to assess the risks. If you ask

"Why would I go by route 'A' to town rather than route 'B'?"

You are more like to discover the risks with this open question than if you ask the closed question:

"Is route 'A' faster than route 'B'?"