In recent years, organizations such as EO and YPO have suggested foregoing questions during the Forum presentation process. The traditional presentation process was modified to move directly from the Presenter delivering their presentation (aka Exploration, or Deep Dive) to experience sharing. The questions that took place between the presentation and the experience shares were removed. What caused this change, and is omitting questions from the presentation process really a good idea? The answer is complex and worthy of further consideration.
Why the Change?
First, why were questions removed? There are several reasons that prompted this shift in the presentation process. Let’s look at three of the most common ones.
One reason is that sometimes people hide advice in their questions, which breaks a fundamental Forum rule that members should NOT give direct advice to each other. For example: “Have you thought of hiring an attorney to sue the vendor?” This question is simply suggesting that the presenter should hire an attorney and sue the vendor. It’s direct advice.
Another reason is that sometimes people imply as part of their question that the presenter has done something wrong or stupid. For example, “How could you think it’s a good idea to lie to your investors?” This question implies that the presenter made an unwise choice by withholding the truth from their investors. It could make the presenter feel embarrassed and/or foolish, creating an unsafe environment for the presenter.
A third reason is that sometimes people ask questions that only serve their own curiosity, or focus on factual details rather than the inner struggle of the situation. For example, “How much money do you think the bookkeeper stole before you figured it out?” This question is getting into the weeds about the specifics of the situation rather than the deeper issue of how the situation is impacting the Forum member.
In all of these cases, the questions are not appropriate. That leaves us with a question – is the real problem the inappropriate questions? Or is the deeper problem, i.e., the core issue, that the Forum needs proper training in how to ask better questions?
It’s like the leaky roof and the umbrella – Instead of repairing the leaky roof at the office (core issue), management buys an umbrella for each employee and insists that they carry it around the office at all times in case it rains. Everyone is inconvenienced, even employees who never go near the leaky roof area. The leak gets worse, and the company spends time enforcing a silly rule instead of fixing the roof! And because the core issue (the leaky roof) wasn’t addressed in the solution, numerous other issues arise.
If the core issue in our Forum presentations is that we don’t know how to ask good questions, let’s solve that rather than eliminate the benefits of good questions in our presentations. Good questions can be incredibly helpful to a Presenter, shedding light on an issue for the Presenter – and for other members of the Forum. So let’s start with some simple guidelines on good, healthy questions.
Two Types of “Good” Questions
There are two types of helpful questions that can be asked during the presentation process: clarifying questions and thought-provoking questions.
Clarifying questions, quite simply, clarify facts. These questions are so fact-based that they could be asked and answered in a court of law. They help people understand the situation more fully. Clarification is appropriate if the clarifying facts will help guide Forum members to similar, relevant experiences that they can share later in the presentation process. In fact, without the clarification, people might misunderstand the presentation and share completely irrelevant experiences.
Thought-provoking questions help the Presenter look at the situation from different perspectives. By approaching the situation from different angles, the Presenter (and other members of the Forum) may discover new insights and ideas. Oftentimes, the Presenter may not have an answer in the moment, but the question itself may prompt further thinking later. Note that this type of question can sound like advice if not phrased properly, so it’s best suited for healthy, mature Forums and members with high emotional intelligence (EQ).
Some people are naturally gifted at asking thought-provoking questions. Others may struggle with it, but on the bright side, it’s a skill that can be learned. And it can be valuable in many relationships beyond the Forum, including mentoring, leading, parenting, and friendship. Click here for a list of thought-provoking questions.
Examples of Helpful Questions
If we don’t allow questions during the presentation process, we completely lose the benefits that clarifying and thought-provoking questions can provide. To illustrate these benefits, here are three examples of how the right questions have helped real-life Forum members gain clarity on their core issue.
1) The Guiding Voice
Forum member Jon, 38 years old, was born in China. His childhood was quite humble and modest, but things changed when he moved to the United States to attend college. After he graduated, he built a $40 million company in New York, met the love of his life, got married, and had three children.
In his Forum presentation a few years later, Jon noted that he was bored and was considering retirement—but he felt guilty leaving the workforce at such a young age. He felt an intense inner conflict over the appropriate age for retirement. Then came a game-changing question from one of his Forum mates:
“Whose voice are you hearing in your head that’s telling you you’re too young to retire?”
Jon reflected on the question and realized it was his mother’s voice. Later, Jon began exploring his relationship with his mother on a deeper level and realized that he wasn’t sure if he was living his life for himself or for his relatives in China. Without this thought-provoking question from a Forum member, he wouldn’t have considered the impact and healthiness of his familial relationships in making his decision.
2) Everlasting Mentorship
Shelly had what many of us consider to be a happy problem. As a child, she had a wonderful relationship with her grandfather. She would sit and talk with him on his front porch for hours about anything and everything. When she was a young woman, he gave her a $100 loan to follow her passion, which she turned into a $25 million custom jewelry business.
In her presentation, Shelly explained that a prominent international jeweler had approached her about buying her company. Not only had Shelly never considered selling her business—she didn’t even know how to analyze whether it was a wise decision for her. She didn’t know where to begin weighing the pros and cons until a fellow Forum member posed this question:
“If your grandfather was still alive, what would he advise you to do?”
Thanks to this question, Shelly had an outstanding starting point. She imagined herself being back on that old porch talking to her grandfather. She was able to hear what he would say to her, and her options became clear. In other words, that Forum member’s thought-provoking question afforded Shelly a roadmap to think through how to make her decision.
3) Complex Partner Challenges
Paul had two business partners, and unfortunately he was struggling with both of them. His presentation outlined a number of issues:
- Paul was doing most of the work running the business. This led to confusion about equity and compensation. It didn’t seem fair to have equal equity and compensation when the other two partners were contributing so much less time and effort to the business. Why should they benefit equally from all of Paul’s hard work?
- The three partners were not aligned on the business’s future or their current roles and responsibilities. This trickled down to their entire staff, and there was a lack of clarity and direction throughout the entire organization.
- When they started the business, it took off very quickly. Paul and his two partners were so busy that they never finalized their partnership agreement in writing beyond starting a couple of drafts. This left them with nothing solid to fall back on from a legal perspective.
Understandably, Paul was exhausted, overwhelmed, and unhappy. His presentation inspired not one, but two thought-provoking questions from his Forum mates:
“What is going right or working well?”
This question led Paul to realize that the situation wasn’t hopeless. He listed a number of positive aspects of the business and his partners, and he began to understand that despite the problems with his business partners, there was hope.
“Could you solve part of the problem?”
The member who asked this question gave Paul the freedom to think differently about what his next steps should be. Instead of feeling the pressure of one enormous issue he had to solve, he could isolate parts of the problem and solve them individually. It became a much more manageable situation for him.
Summary
As you can see in these three examples, Jon, Shelly, and Paul all benefited from thoughtful and well-phrased questions during the presentation process. The perspectives they gained through them would have been missed if Forum members were only allowed to share experiences.
Yes, experiences can be incredibly valuable, especially when people have faced challenges that are similar to the Presenter’s issue. But skipping the questions completely may be removing a lot of value from your presentations. Is it worth losing the value because the Forum isn’t skilled at asking good questions? In some cases, the answer may be yes, especially in younger Forums with several people who tend to ask inappropriate questions. But in other cases, it may be worth the effort to learn how to ask good questions and reap the benefits – in Forum and in life.
Have a discussion with your Forum and decide what will work best for you.
Enhance the Value and Impact of Your Forum’s Presentation Process
Your Forum deserves valuable and impactful presentations at every single meeting. Without healthy questions, the Presenter and other members simply aren’t getting the most out of their Forum experience.
We can help. Our skilled facilitators are specially trained in our innovative Forum 2.0® alternative presentation formats, and we’ll guide you to understand how to ask the right questions at the right time.
Contact us today to schedule an obligation-free consultation!
Written by Ellie Byrd