Questions Can Cue Action

Mar 5, 2020

This mini-article is an excerpt from our brand new Second Edition book, Ask Powerful Questions: Create Conversations that Matter. There are dozens of these scattered throughout the book in little “conversation bubble callouts.” If you like this one idea, we trust you’ll love the book and find an immense amount of value in the way that we weave both the science of asking and the art of building meaningful connections and sparking effective communication. You can get your copy in print, audiobook or ebook directly from Amazon.

Not ready to buy the book? Get a FREE excerpt, printable question cards, and video tips on our website right here.

For now, enjoy this idea and let it inspire some action for you today.

Once, during one of our interactive keynotes, Will misspoke the subtitle of the book and said, “conversations that create matter.” We both loved the mix-up because we have seen the power that questions have to spark action, open possibilities, and create material change within people and organizations. 

Here are three wild, researched examples of the ability of questions to open our brains to new behavior and possibility:

  1.  A study conducted with more than forty thousand participants revealed that simply asking someone if they were going to purchase a new car within six months increased their purchase rates by 35 percent.
  2. According to the Journal of Applied Psychology, asking citizens whether they’re going to vote in an upcoming election increases the likelihood that they will by 25 percent. 
  3. And in yet another study, researchers found that asking about one’s intention to give blood raised donation rates by a modest but noteworthy 8.6 percent.

Questions cue the brain to contemplate a behavior. Decades of research has shown that the more the brain contemplates a behavior, the more likely it is that we will engage in it. 

If you want more concrete tips on how to ask great questions, you can access free resources and a behind-the-scenes video from us on the power of openness at www.weand.me/openness.