CNBC asked Matt Abrahams, expert on communications at Stanford University, about asking questions since some people think it makes us look weak and insecure. I think it’s macho men who often think this way and people who project a know-it-all attitude.
Abrahams says asking good questions “demonstrates you care, it demonstrates empathy, it demonstrates you’re willing to learn, and, in some cases admit you don’t know everything.” He says we should listen tentatively to others before asking them questions. Abrahams says questions need to be clear, thoughtful, and relative to the discussion.
I’ve always believed in asking questions. It has been a natural practice throughout my life. I think something Jesus taught in his Sermon on the Mount likely influenced me even more to be such an inquirer. He said, “Ask, and it will be given you” (Matthew 7:7 NRSV).
This has often been understood only to mean asking God to give us something in prayer. And Jesus later does say, “how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (v. 11). But I think this saying of Jesus about asking can also be applied to conversations that we have with humans. For, Jesus adds, “search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” Jesus also seems to be teaching us here, generally, to be seekers of true knowledge. If so, I think it corroborates with what lecturer Matt Abrahams says on this subject.
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