The skills you need guide to interpersonal skills

Closed questions allow, but do not require, a brief answer. The respondent can 
always choose to expand on that one word if they wish.
Open Questions
By contrast, open questions allow for much longer responses and therefore 
potentially more creativity and information. There are lots of different types of 
open question; some are more closed than others! If your role is to assist a speaker 
to talk about an issue, often the most effective questioning starts with ‘when’, 
‘where’, ‘how’ or ‘why’. These questions encourage speakers to be open and 
expand on their thoughts. For example:
“When did you first start feeling like this?”
“Why do you feel this way?”

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2.
ADVANCED COMMUNICATION SKILLS
LEADING OR ‘LOADED’ QUESTIONS
A leading question points the respondent’s answer in a certain direction, 
usually subtly.
For example, asking an employee, “Are you getting on OK with the new finance 
system?” prompts the person to question how they are managing with a new 
system at work. In a very subtle way, it raises the prospect that they may not be 
finding the new system so good.
“Tell me how you’re getting on with the new finance system” is a less leading 
question. The question does not require any judgement to be made and therefore 
does not imply that there may be something wrong with the new system.
Children are particularly susceptible to leading questions and are more likely to take 
the lead for an answer from an adult. Something simple like, “Did you have a good 
day at school?” points the child towards thinking about good things that happened 
at school. By asking, “How was school today?” you are not asking for any judgement 
about how good or bad the day has been and you are more likely to get a more 
balanced, accurate answer. This can shape the rest of the conversation. The next 
question may be, “What did you do at school?”, and the answer may vary based on 
the first question you asked—good things or just things.