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answering open ended questions

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chris5000
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09 May 2014, 2:58 pm

how do you do it?

at work people seem to love to ask me questions like what do you say and stuff like that when they see me and I have no idea how to answer them



GlennBecksTears
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09 May 2014, 3:00 pm

I'll ask the person to narrow their question.


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EzraS
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09 May 2014, 3:03 pm

ugh i hate that open ended stuff. i get that in PM elsewhere. I'm like thinking do you have a question? do you have a point to make? what do you want?



starkid
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09 May 2014, 3:06 pm

Sometimes they don't really have a coherent question; they just want to get you talking.



giantstep
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09 May 2014, 4:15 pm

I dont t do it. I just ask for another question that is not open ended. I usually get a laugh and then they move on. At least in job interviews.



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09 May 2014, 5:27 pm

I usually ask them to elaborate. Sometimes I won't say anything, in case they're just making small talk, which I am rubbish at. But it can be tough to know if it's a question they want answered or just small talk...



alwaysnow
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09 May 2014, 5:35 pm

If someone says something completely open-ended and unexpected like your example I'll most likely barely get around to mumble "I don't know.." or something else essentially meaningless before I even get time to wrap my mind around what they just asked, and unless they say something more the conversation just ends.



Last edited by alwaysnow on 09 May 2014, 5:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Spectre
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09 May 2014, 5:40 pm

With questions, depends on the question. If it is a common question like "how are you?" my standard answer is that I'm fine. If the question is vague, I ask the person to be more specific. The one question I can't solve is "What's up?". It's like, how are you supposed to answer a question like that? What is the person even asking?



franknfurter
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09 May 2014, 6:14 pm

Spectre wrote:
With questions, depends on the question. If it is a common question like "how are you?" my standard answer is that I'm fine. If the question is vague, I ask the person to be more specific. The one question I can't solve is "What's up?". It's like, how are you supposed to answer a question like that? What is the person even asking?



with "what's up" it is the person asking what you are doing, I answer with "nothing much, you?" most of the time, unless I am doing something I want to relay to them



conundrum
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09 May 2014, 11:39 pm

franknfurter wrote:
Spectre wrote:
With questions, depends on the question. If it is a common question like "how are you?" my standard answer is that I'm fine. If the question is vague, I ask the person to be more specific. The one question I can't solve is "What's up?". It's like, how are you supposed to answer a question like that? What is the person even asking?



with "what's up" it is the person asking what you are doing, I answer with "nothing much, you?" most of the time, unless I am doing something I want to relay to them


^This. I get this at work a lot. I usually just say hi and move on (it's as we pass each other).


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10 May 2014, 12:03 am

I either ask them to ask me specific questions or I just say something stupid and meaningless or I just kind of stare at them with a blank look or I could turn the answers into a ten page dissertation. Some open ended questions I actually can answer but not all of them. One of the helpers at the horse arena today asked me how I got into horses. I don't know if that actually qualifies as an open ended question, it really doesn't, but the answer to that question required me to put some thought into it and I did not feel like making the effort so I just said, "I don't know."


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