To Get Good Answers You Need Good Questions 139
Pat yourself on the back, Meryl—that was brilliant! (I love it
when my stories make me look good!) Let me tell you why it
was brilliant. Had I just said,
My program manager didn’t show up today, and I’m on my
own.people would have thought I was complaining. By tying it into
an experience they have all had, they remembered a similar
experience of their own and felt connected to me. By making
the remark in the form of a question, I forced them to ask
themselves about their own experience, and they immediately
got more involved. That is the value of questions. They get peo-
ple involved.
My intention was to get you involved by starting this chap-
ter with a question. My objective was to draw you in so you feel
like we are taking this journey together.
I ask you questions throughout this book, and you need to
ask others questions throughout your day. Skillful questions cre-
ate a bond. Use PowerPhrases to ask questions—short, specific,
targeted expressions to say what you mean and mean what you
say without being mean when you say them.
PowerPhrase Questions Are Short
I do several media interviews every week, and I notice that
skilled interviewers often use the PowerPhrase Principles for
their questions.
Occasionally a deejay or anchor will ask me questions that
are so complex that I will forget the question before I can
answer. I also get multiple questions tied together. Recently an