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The one piece of feedback from my college advisor that stuck for years
Back in 2018 my advisor told me I asked too many yes/no questions in meetings. She said it made me look like I wasn't thinking things through. Changed how I prep for any conversation now by writing down open-ended questions first. Anyone else get a piece of advice that felt harsh but turned out to be right?
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markh853d ago
That advisor really put her finger on something important. Once you start paying attention to how you ask things in meetings, you realize yes/no questions shut everything down fast. A trick that helped me was writing out my questions before a meeting and swapping any that could be answered with a nod for ones that need a real explanation. It makes people actually engage with what you're saying instead of just moving on to the next thing. Totally changed how people perceive your input without you having to say more.
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phoenixw112d ago
Right, because nothing says "team player" like pre-writing your questions so you don't accidentally make someone think for two seconds. The yes/no question is basically the adult version of "are we there yet?" and we all know how that went on road trips. But hey, if swapping a nod for a real answer gets you out of meetings five minutes early, I'm all for it. Just don't get too carried away or you'll end up in a three hour debate about font choices when all anyone wanted was a simple "yep".
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reed.elliot20h ago
My own brain still defaults to yes/no questions in meetings so hard that I once asked my boss if she wanted me to clarify something. She just stared at me until I rephrased it myself. Pretty sure that moment is now stored in some cosmic cringe archive. It took me like two years to stop sounding like a human multiple choice quiz in every conversation.
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