"Just one question" that moved history: lessons from top interviewers

The moment one question changes the mood

Press conferences, TV interviews, one-on-one talks. Among dozens of questions flying around, a single question can sometimes completely change the mood in the room. Someone who had been giving safe, harmless answers lights up after a certain question and starts saying what they really think.

These "mood-changing questions" have something in common. They ask about something the other person "didn't expect to be asked." It's not a question with a prepared answer, but one they have to think about on the spot. Questions like that tend to draw out what people really think.

It's the same in a question box. "What's your favorite food?" gets a prepared answer, but if you ask "What's the most delicious bite you've ever had in your life?", the person digs through their memories and puts their thoughts into words right then. This kind of "question that makes them think" is the key to drawing out interesting answers.

The magic of "just one more thing"

There's a way of asking called the "doorknob question." When the interview is over and the other person is about to get up and leave, you say, "Oh, just one more thing." The person has relaxed, thinking "it's over," so they tend to answer the question with their guard down.

The reason this technique is used is thought to lie in human psychology. During the interview, people are braced, thinking "What will they ask me?", but the moment they think "it's over," that tension is released. When asked a question in that relaxed state, they can easily end up answering honestly before they know it.

In detective dramas, there's a scene where the detective is about to leave the room, turns around, and asks, "Oh, just one more thing," right? That moment is portrayed as a question that plays on the same psychology.

You can't use the "doorknob question" in a question box, but you can apply the principle. Instead of asking directly, ask from a slightly different angle. Not "Do you enjoy your job?" but "When do you most lose track of time at work?" Shifting the angle lets you get around the person's prepared answer and makes it easier to draw out something closer to what they really think.

Why a child's question can leave adults speechless

Have you ever seen a TV show where a child interviews a famous person? A child's questions are different from an adult interviewer's.

"Why are you so important?" "Is being rich fun?" "Are you scared of dying?" Questions an adult would read the room and never ask, a child asks straight out. And the person being asked, even while struggling, answers seriously. That's because a child's question tends to feel free of bad intentions.

When an adult asks the same question, it's taken as "rude" or "provocative," but when a child asks, it's accepted as "pure curiosity." The question is the same, but how it's received changes depending on who asks.

An anonymous question box has something in common with this "child's question." Because it's anonymous, you can't see the sender's position or intentions. You can't tell whether there's bad intent or pure curiosity. Some owners give the benefit of the doubt when they can't tell. With owners like that, anonymous questions are accepted as "pure curiosity" and tend to lead to frank answers.

What questions that get a "Good question" have in common

At TV press conferences, there are moments when the person answering says, "Good question." Sometimes it's just politeness, but sometimes they really do feel it's a good question. What's the difference?

People seem to truly feel it's a "good question" when, for example, they're asked from "an angle they'd never thought about themselves." Only after being asked do they realize, "Oh, I really never thought about that." That realization is what gives it value to the person answering.

In a question box too, the questions owners tend to find "so interesting!" are ones with a viewpoint they never would have thought of. "If you had to describe yourself as a color, what would it be?" rather than "What's your favorite color?" "What would you do if you had unlimited money and time?" rather than "What are your hobbies?" Changing the angle a little tends to make a question more interesting.

What good questions have in common is that "you want to think about it yourself before you even hear the answer." The moment you read the question, you start thinking, "Hmm, how would I answer that?" Questions like that should help bring a question box to life.

It doesn't have to be a grand question that moves history. If you send a question that makes people "think a little," the Q&As in a question box may become more interesting.