Most people don't understand the real power of questions and I know this because when it ask them. Why do we ask questions? The usual answer is to get more information. Yes, and we do use questions to get information. However, there are also a number of other very, very positive things that happen when we take it upon ourselves in a group, to ask a question. Imagine we're in a meeting and someone comes forward with a question. What sort of attributes do we grant these people, when they stand up ,and they deliver their. question? I've asked this to my students particularly and often they say: communicative, self-confident, brave, intelligent, leaders. Now these assessments may or may not be true, but the fact is that it does create an image of you that is generally positive. The question is how do we get to the point, if we don't normally feel brave enough to ask questions in group situations, how do we transform ourselves? Because there's a lot of things you need to do, especially if you're in a second language. So you need to identify the question that you want to ask about the issue, formulate the question, and then deliver that question within a time frame that is appropriate. Because we do know, don't we, that if we hesitate for too long in that moment, that window of opportunity is lost. And it reminds me of a situation a while back when a student of mine came into a class and they were furious. And I was like, what's what's going on? And they mentioned that they'd just been in a meeting and they realized that had a really good question that they wanted to address to the group. But at that crucial moment, they hesitated. And just as they did so, her junior colleague asked the exact same question. And this was very well received by the group. It stimulated a lot of discussion and the colleague after received a lot of credit and praise for for the question that they delivered. And my student really felt like it was an opportunity that they lost or missed. And I said to her, well, you know, you've got a choice. You've just gotta decide what sort of a risk you wanna take. Do you wanna risk this opportunity, this situation, happening again? Or do you wanna risk standing up, sticking your neck out, and asking that question without hesitation? Thankfully, she chose the second scenario. We worked together on this, and before too long, she was. able to stand up and deliver at the right moment. And it was a really a groundbreaking moment for her because everything changed. She overcame this barrier and she gained new confidence and this opened a lot of doors for her. So if you're in this situation and you feel you need to be taking more risks with your English, please do click on the link or message me on LinkedIn.
