The Art of Asking Questions

Every so often there comes along a taciturn coworker, a stalwart boss, or an indecisive client. With each, there is one obstacle blocking your plan, your raise, your ability to close a sale. Communication.

What can you do to crumble the walls that are blocking your lines of communication with these people, and, for that matter, anyone else?

The answer lies in The Art of Asking Questions!

What do you think about this project? Can you support this decision? What can I do to help you? How would you deal with this problem? What's your objective? How do you feel about this?

The world is full of questions-good questions, silly questions, important questions, offensive questions. Questions can build rapport and trust or foster suspicion and dislike. Questions can open up a conversation or slam it closed. Questions can generate information or send the conversation shooting off on a tangent. Questions are the heart of communication. They pump fresh life into conversations.

Asking good questions —> Getting the right answers

Asking good questions is particularly important in organizations where working together to achieve a common purpose depends upon the members of the organizations understanding each other clearly. Asking questions about how things are done, why they're done, who's responsible for doing them, and when they're due form the basis of organizational effectiveness. Imagine launching a new product, putting together a budget, improving a process, implementing a new policy, or reviewing employee performance without asking questions. The Information Age couldn't exist without questions.

The Art of Asking Questions will help you understand how to use questions to improve your communication, what types of questions to use and when to use them, and the strategies and techniques of artful questioning. I, Dr. Tony Alessandra, have decades of experience as a businessperson, researcher and business author. I've cut out the fluff and condensed my question-asking knowledge into this book. Let it be your handy guide to knowing how to ask the right question at the right time, every time.

Here are the three lessons you'll learn in The Art of Asking Questions

• Why We Ask Questions: Is it information you need? Do you need to understand someone else's viewpoint? Or do you simply want to stimulate conversation?
• The Two Major Types of Questions: What is the difference between an open or closed question, and when is each appropriate?
• Questioning Strategies: Learn how to structure your questioning format with the Funnel Technique.

When all is said and done, you'll astonish yourself and others with your knack for engaging conversations and insightful inquiries.

About the Author

Dr. Tony Alessandra helps companies build customers, relationships, and the bottom-line. Audiences learn how to outmarket, outsell, and outservice the competition by applying Dr. Alessandra’s marketing, sales, service, and relationship-building skills.

Tony has a street-wise, college-smart perspective on business, achieving success as a graduate professor of marketing, entrepreneur, author, and consultant. He earned his PhD in marketing from Georgia State University and was inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame in 1985.

Dr. Alessandra is the co-founder of MentorU.com, an online e-learning company providing training and coaching utilizing the latest Internet technologies.

Dr. Alessandra is a widely published author with 14 books translated into 14 foreign languages including The Platinum Rule and The Art of Managing People. He is featured in over 50 audio/video programs and films, including The Dynamics of Effective Listening and Non-Manipulative Selling.

Tony Alessandra reaches people - from the Board of Directors to the front-line employees. He delivers practical ideas and profitable bottom-line results “ with a lot of snap” - so people can grasp it, remember it, and use it. Recognized by Meetings & Conventions Magazine as “one of America’s most electrifying speakers,” Tony ’s polished style, powerful message, and proven ability as a consummate business strategist consistently earns rave reviews.