[Guest post] 8 ways to ask better questions by Nicky Torode

Stalwart Street Wisdom host, Nicky Torode, guides us through the art of posing the best question.

A prudent question is one half of wisdom.

– Francis Bacon

At Street Wisdom, naturally, we couldn’t agree more with Francis Bacon.

In our free in-person and online Walkshops, participants quest the streets, seeking, smelling, sensing and listening for answers to their top-of-mind question.

So, a good Quest needs a good question, right? True.

But what makes a good question is the question! 

Read on to discover ways to craft your question that will magnetise the wisdom to you.

Here are 8 categories of question to ponder as you start to tune into your own next brilliant question.

1. Open, no theme

Use What or How to get the juices flowing:

What is the next best step?

What am I waiting for?

What has the time come for me to invite into my life?

2. Open with theme

What’s the next step in my career?

What volunteering opportunities do I want to explore?

I’m at a crossroads in my love life. Show me some options for which way to go.

3. What if

This unlocks our thinking, takes us into the wonderous fields of infinite possibility.

What if I say yes?

What if I say no?

What if there is a half way?

4. Incisive Question

This kind of question has bounce!

We leapfrog over doubts, fears, objections and assumptions to ask thought-provoking questions to think afresh:

If you knew you had a choice, what….

If you could find time, what…

 
A similar springboard question, this time from what is already known:

Knowing your values, what feels possible right now?

5. Hypothetical

On a Street Wisdom walkshop we invite you to ask a stranger your question to get a fresh perspective, for their first take on your topic. It’s insightful precisely because they don’t know you and don’t need the backstory.

Ask perhaps, a friendly-faced barista? An eager-eyed florist outside the station?

I once asked a quiet barista, serving flat whites, minding his own. Turns out, he was a philosophy graduate. Now, the question is: did I come away with answers or more questions?

A hypothetical question like this can work well:

What would you consider if you were moving town?       

What would you do if you had a job you loved but hated the boss? 

Now, the stranger-turned-confidante might ask move from where to where or what job do you do BUT it is just their top notes that’ll be helpful! Not an exchange.

And it’s worth pondering about the language and the focus.

6. Instructional – in dialogue

We are in dialogue with the street so let’s talk to them directly, like our very own personal Yoda:

Streets, what’s …..

Give me…

Show me….

Tell me…..

7. Invitational

Or, a more invitational tone, perhaps?

Words like might, may, could invite our explorer’s mind to the streets, rather than us efforting to find the definitive answer.

What might the answer be?  

Feel the air flow in, the freeness?

8. Only positive focus?

I was once asked on a walkshop whether the question had to be about positive topics only. No, it can be the thing that’s troubling you, perhaps negative emotions that you’re experiencing like stress or worry.

Example of a difficult theme for a question, taken from the Street Wisdom website:

Show me some fresh ways of dealing with the grief I’m experiencing…

My word of caution is to be mindful you’re in a public space, so check if it feels like the right place and time for this topic.

You don’t have to share your question with the group but I find it’s always inspiring to hear others and can help participants savour them and land on their own question.

After the quest, it’s heartening to see surprised faces and smiles when wanderers return and share answers, or whispers of answers, they’ve gathered from the streets.

Coming up with questions can be addictive, wouldn’t you say?

We love a good question so share if you will, a question you took for a walk!

If you haven’t yet been to a Street Wisdom walkshop, the only question to ask now is…

What are you waiting for?  

What’s Street Wisdom again?

Street Wisdom is a creative practice you add to your everyday walk, and we share it every week for FREE in our online and in-person Walkshops.

Very simply put, you take a question for a walk to help you find fresh inspiration. We believe answers are everywhere, all around us, especially when we’re tuned in to our environment. Your question can be about anything - life or work or love or community or the planet or everything in between. Anything you want some fresh inspiration for.

It might be…

• A question about work - What’s my next product innovation? How can I best lead my team? How can I achieve more with less energy?

• A question about life - What should my next hobby be? How can I meet new people? What don’t I know already? Which of my values do I want to explore more?

• A question about love - Should I stay with my partner? Should we move to another city? How can I bring all of me to my relationship?

• A question about community - How can I best support my local neighbourhood? What’s being called of me in my local area? How can I meet people who don’t share my opinions?

• A question about the planet - What do I need to do to help nature flourish? Which volunteering projects shall I contribute to? What does the planet want me to do next?

• A question about… [ANYTHING!] - Street Wisdom works for practically any question. We simply suggest you make it as simple as possible (could your 11 year old self understand it?) and it’s often nice to put it in the third person eg “What are [insert your name]’s next steps with the job?” Putting it in the third person helps give you a bit of perspective.

The idea is, once you have your question, that you take it for a walk and - once you’ve tuned in to the world around you through our easy three-part process (which you learn on a FREE Walkshop) - the streets send you fresh answers that directly relate to your question through signs and signals as you wander. You might find you:

• Walk down a dead-end street - and realise you’re in a professional or personal cul-de-sac

• Hit a roundabout - and realise you’ve got a decision to make and so many options (which one will you take?)

• Look up! - and realise you’re trapped in the everyday detail and need to see the bigger picture more

• See a curve ahead - and realise you want to preview the future (what’s exciting or alive-making or scary round the corner?)

• Reach a fork in the road - and have to decide which option to take. Now’s the time!

Suddenly, the world is rich with meaningful sounds, sights, images, patterns, words, posters, overheard conversations, colours, animals, birds, nature, cloud formations (looking up is great!) - all kinds of things.

The world is there for you, if you keep your mind and heart open!

Try it right now!

This curious practice we’ve developed and refined over the last 15 years is backed by the latest mindfulness, neuroscience, creativity and wellness theory.

To give it a go right now, you can try our five-minute taster, or sign up for an online or in-person Walkshop (yes, walking workshop!) to practise it fully. Once you’ve learned it, you’ve got a skill for life!

Fancy becoming a Street Wisdom host?

It’s really rewarding becoming a Street Wisdom host, bringing strangers together to connect, helping people become more playful, sharing everyday wonder in your local neighbourhood, and giving people a practice and a skill they can enjoy for life!

What does it involve?

Being a Street Wisdom host involves as much or as little as you want it to. Many hosts lead one or two Walkshops a year in their neighbourhood. Some host more, including weekly Walkshops. To become a Street Wisdom Host in your area, get in touch with us at contactus@streetwisdom.org.


Finally, don’t forget

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So get offline, get off your phone, get off on the wonder all around. You deserve it, and the world does too!

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