I don't seem to get what the murmur is usually about when I rise up to ask questions in class. Sometime its as though asking questions after each lesson is exclusively reserved just for me. But then I came to realize at some point that sometimes people do not only like to ask questions, they do not know how to and the right reasons they should ask questions.

In a class of students, just few inquisitive minds rise to ask questions while the very many will pray for the teacher to leave the class really quick. If you are caught in this web, here are four ways to ask good questions according to Madison Semarjian's research from Harvard business school ;

Ask follow-up questions.
In any given conversation, there are typically four different types of questions: introductory, mirror, full-shift and follow up. Harvard Business School research suggests that the most powerful of these are follow-up questions, since they show a genuine interest in what the other person has to say. People feel more respected and heard, which will improve your relationship. The good news is follow-up questions don’t require much thought or preparation, since they are based on the conversation at hand.

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Be Confident enough
Though you may be nervous, try not to show it. Studies show that when people ask questions in a casual, rather than uptight, manner, the other person is more likely to reveal sensitive information that they would otherwise withhold.The same principle applies to asking people questions that appear nervous.

Pay attention to order.
If you’re looking for information and sense the room is tense, start with the tough questions. Though it may temporarily feel socially awkward, studies show people are more likely to open up if you ask questions in decreasing intrusiveness. But be careful of asking too sensitive a question right off the bat. A balance between privacy and transparency is key.

If you’re looking to build relationships, however, the opposite is true. Start with the baseline questions, and then slowly progress to more sensitive ones. Studies have shown that by following this simple structure, relationships underwent a closeness induction, and became stronger than those that asked sensitive questions right away.

Keep it open-ended
A series of yes-or-no questions can make it seem more like an interrogation than a conversation. If you’re looking to uncover information, form relationships or learn something new, keeping the questions open-ended, and sometimes indirect, allows the answerer more freedom in their responses. This will lead to the innovative answers you couldn’t have predicted.

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