Question:

Answer:

• 

  I’m happy to answer questions but over the course of my advising career, I’ve found that many people don’t know how to ask questions in order to elicit a useful answer. Here are a few tips, applicable whether you’re asking in-person or on-line:
       Is the question just about you or would this be of interest to readers generally?     What do I need to know to answer your question? Provide enough--but not too much--background so I can comment intelligently.                     Don’t ask yes or no questions; frame questions so they may prompt a real answer.      Don’t try to disguise a statement as a question. You know what I mean: someone gets up, offers a tirade against something and then says “so what do you think about that?”

  by Ellen Reeves