It's All in the Asking

If you're not getting the answers you need, maybe it's due not to what questions you're asking, but to how you're asking them. When you need to ask tough questions, the way you ask can have an effect on the answers you get.

"Astute questioning can begin on any subject, even if it seems unrelated or trivial, and end with the information you need," says Frank MacHovec, Ph.D., a psychologist, forensics examiner, private investigator, and author of Private Investigation, Security Science, and Public Service. Expert questioners such as attorneys and detectives adapt their technique to their personality strengths and the weaknesses of those questioned. Sometimes the direct approach works—it's best used when needed information is not sensitive, time is limited, or there's no advantage to personalizing the conversation. Sometimes it's better to be indirect.

The indirect approach works well when you seek sensitive information. Types of indirect questioning include the following:

• Me too: sharing feelings such as "If I were you, I'd feel the same way."
• Sandwiching: asking a difficult question between two easy ones.
• Distraction: strategically interrupting the line of questioning with words or action.
• Silence: pausing, followed by blankly staring at a person to exert pressure or looking away to minimize it. This is one of the least-used but most-effective questioning techniques.

10 Tips for More-Effective Questioning

1. Observe closely. If you don't get the answer you want, ask again in a different way.
2. Be prepared. Make a list of information you need, and rework it as questions.
3. Ask what you already know, and then insert key questions about what you need to know to detect exaggeration or lying.
4. Choose the best time and place. Sometimes inconvenience works well for digging out specific facts.
5. Start out small. Unless you're pressed for time, warm up with some small talk.
6. Watch your volume and speed. Match voice volume and speed to the situation.
7. Don't be pushy. Try the push/pull technique: Confront, but with an apology: "I didn't mean to imply, but...." Use the reaction to gauge the person's coping style, and then redirect the question.
8. Ask for help. "I really need your help right now." This overcomes distance and humanizes you.
9. Be a lie detector. Research shows that liars hold and show emotion longer and more unevenly on their faces.
10. Adapt to the person questioned, the situation, and the setting.

Oracle Events

May 8-11, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Free update sessions include HRMS and Learning Management, Financials and Procurement, CRM solutions and Customer Data Hub, E-Business Suite Special Edition (Oracle's midsize solution), and Product Lifecycle Management.

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July 19-22, Shanghai, China
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Oracle OpenWorld sessions are organized by product and solution areas and presented in a variety of formats and levels. Sessions include overviews, technical and product directions, and customer case studies, all designed to drive an organization from action to innovation.

Byrne-ing Down the Mouse

The occasional wrestling match with Microsoft's PowerPoint is an unavoidable part of many jobs. But tamed by the nimble hands of musician and slide show Picasso David Byrne, the software makes an unlikely move from the meeting room to the gallery. In his art book and DVD Envisioning Emotional Epistemological Information (E.E.E.I.), the former Talking Heads front man uses the familiar array of clip art, action buttons, and transitional animation to build five visually striking presentations filled with wit and insight. Although the use of business software to critique corporate culture is an irony Byrne underscores with a heavy hand, his respect for the creative and aesthetic potential of PowerPoint should be an inspiration to anyone who has spent a late night creating slides—or an early morning enduring them.

More Bang for Your Advertising Buck

You've got a product to sell and you want to launch with a boom. But you can raise a ruckus and still find that nobody's listening. That's the challenge addressed in Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval's book, Bang! Getting Your Message Heard in a Noisy World. "Too often you find that people are doing something outrageous, and the end result is it's not selling the product," explains Kaplan Thaler. "We're not making movies—we're here to create messages that are going to lead to profits."

As cofounders and executives of the Kaplan Thaler Group advertising agency, Kaplan Thaler and Koval have created and managed hugely successful campaigns such as the AFLAC duck and the Herbal Essence shampoo "Totally Organic Experience," so they have advertising credibility. And too often, they've found, companies are using advertising to make a big bang, just not in the right universe.

The book concentrates on how to create messages that will stick in consumers' minds. "The valuable thing you do with an advertising agency is to create ideas that are big enough to permeate every aspect of communication," says Kaplan Thaler. With AFLAC, for example, she recalls that nobody could remember the company name. Using the duck as a spokes-creature worked well because it was humorous. According to Kaplan Thaler, the humor worked at different levels because the duck was a fun, light-hearted symbol and because he was working hard to solve the simple problem of trying to remember the name of the company. "We need visual and auditory messages that help us re-create a brand at a moment's notice," says Kaplan Thaler. And it's working—AFLAC now maintains a 93-percent recognition rate.

In the end, according to Kaplan Thaler and Koval, it's not all about flashy digital animation or celebrity spokespeople. It's about creating messages that consumers recognize, view positively—and associate with your product when it comes time to make a buying decision.