Questions that open up
Ask the shortest question that opens the largest honest space.
Nine question families
Choose the right family before refining the wording.
| Family | Use | Stem | What it tends to produce |
|---|
Common repairs
Remove permission theater, feed the guest nothing, and replace atmosphere with observation.
| Weak form | Replace with | Why it improves the answer |
|---|
Practice with Rapid Repair.
The opening question of the program, put to an astronomer.
Bragg“Paul, what is the moon?”
Four words carry forty minutes — watch (2:41).
Worked example
One weak question, repaired live, and what the repair buys.
Host, drafted“Can you tell our audience a bit about what the merger was like for you, emotionally?”
The Workbench flags all three: permission theater, “tell our audience,” atmosphere.
Host, spoken“What did the merger cost you?”
The repair: five words, observable, addressed to me — the audience can overhear.
Guest“Officially? Nothing. We all kept our titles.”
Host“And unofficially?”
Echoing the crack — “officially” confessed a second ledger.
Guest“My Tuesday runs with Marco. We were on opposite sides by the end.”
Host“When did the runs stop?”
Concrete before abstract — a date, not a feeling.
Guest“Before the announcement. Which tells you everything about when it really ended.”
Try it now
Three rounds of Rapid Repair, right here. Out loud.