Ask Great Questions In Your Couples Conversations
Ask Great Questions In Your Couples Conversations. Asking questions can be one of the best ways to enhance conversation in your relationship, but the wrong questions can actually keep you stuck in old communication patterns.
Not all questions are created equal!
Open-ended questions invite more conversation and are much more effective than closed-ended questions.
They usually start with “What” or “How”.
Here are some examples of how to change closed-ended questions into open-ended questions:
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Instead of “Did you like it?”
you could ask, “What did you like about it?”
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Instead of “Are you upset?”
you could ask, “What’s bothering you?” or “How are you feeling?”
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Instead of “Would you like to do something else?”
you could ask, “What would you like to do?”
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Instead of “Any questions?”
you could ask, “What questions do you have?”
You may be thinking that learning to use open-ended questions requires a lot of effort. It actually does not take long at all to learn this skill and after a little practice becomes second-nature. The effort is well worth it, especially in a tense situation. The next time you and your partner are having a tense conversation, make your questions open-ended and watch the dynamic change. You will have a much better conversation and your relationship will thank you!