Lesson 5 of 12 · Keeping it flowing

Questions that open people up

The right question turns a reply into a conversation.

About 20 minutes
Chapter 5 of the book
Saves on this device

Activity 1 of 5 · Sort

Open or closed?

Closed questions can be answered with yes, no or one word. Open questions invite more. Sort these.

Question sorter

Imagine the shortest possible answer.

✓ Done

A learner's story

Ahmed's interview

Ahmed · engineer from Cairo · intermediate

Ahmed asked lots of questions, because he knew that was polite. “Do you like London?” “Yes.” “Do you have children?” “Two.” “Is your job good?” “It's fine.” His colleague later joked that talking to Ahmed felt like a job interview.

The problem wasn't the number of questions. It was the type. Every question could be answered with one word.

Ahmed changed the beginnings: “What do you like about London?” “How old are your children?” “How did you get into your job?” Suddenly people talked for minutes, and he only needed to ask one follow-up.

Activity 2 of 5 · Build

Upgrade your questions

Choose a topic and an open starter. The tool writes the question for you.

Question upgrader

Try each starter with the same topic and hear how different they feel.

✓ Done

Say it

Phrase box

Useful phrases from this chapter. Anything that isn't British English is labelled.

Open starters

What do you enjoy about…?
How did you get into…?
What's it like…?

Follow-ups

What happened next?
How come?
What was that like?

Softer starters

Can I ask…?
I've always wondered…
Tell me about…

Activity 3 of 5 · Order

Build a follow-up chain

Here is a short conversation, but it's in the wrong order. Put it back together. Notice how each question grows from the last answer.

Conversation order

Use the arrows to move the lines, then check.

✓ Done

Activity 4 of 5 · Play

Three follow-ups in twenty seconds

You'll hear something someone said. Ask three follow-up questions out loud before the timer ends.

Follow-up spinner

Use What, How, Where, How come and What was that like.

✓ Done

The research

In 2017, Karen Huang and colleagues at Harvard studied hundreds of first conversations. People who asked more questions were liked more by their partners, and follow-up questions, the ones that build on what the other person just said, had the biggest effect.

Activity 5 of 5 · Say it

Say it aloud

Practise your best question with a curious, friendly tone.

Your follow-up question

Your line comes from the question upgrader.

✓ Done

Before you move on

Three questions

Which closed questions do you ask most often? Rewrite one.

Who will you ask a follow-up question this week?

What question do you love being asked?

5 activities to go

Finish all five activities to complete Lesson 5. Your progress saves on this device, and finished lessons are marked on the lessons page.

What to remember

Five things to keep

Closed questions get one word. Open questions get a story.
Start with What, How, or Tell me about.
Follow-up questions build on their last answer.
One good follow-up beats five new questions.
“How come?” is a short, friendly way to ask why.

Your answers and progress stay on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.