TED Style Speaking Master Class - Free video series!
Brilliant public speakers also need sometimes to be brilliant facilitators, especially if they want to make sure their audience to think and learn as they speak. Socrates mastered the art of questioning - here's what every speaker can learn from him.
Named after Socrates (ca. 470-399 B.C.), the early Greek philosopher/teacher, a Socratic approach to asking questions is based on the practice of thoughtful dialogue. Socrates enjoyed using questions to delve into his audiences' arguments and then show them why their thinking was flawed. Socratic facilitators or public speakers aim not so much to judge the outcome of a discussion, but to deepen the learning of participants.
If an audience think for themselves as you speak, they are more likely to remember your information afterwards. That's what public speakers can learn from Socratic Questioning.
Here are the six facets to Socratic questioning and specific examples you can utilize in your public speaking to boost critical thinking and group interaction.
These are "Tell me more please" questions. In a facilitated discussion you can use this type of socratic question to get your audience to think more about their own ideas, or to help them engage in your subject matter. These type of questions "open up" the discussion, encouraging details about a thought process, or for clarification purposes.
These questions can also be used as a rhetorical device to guide your audience through your thinking in relation to your subject. Great if you're presenting academic or complex information.
Next, rock the foundations of your audience's world by asking probing questions that challenge their assumptions around your subject matter. This makes your audience think about the presuppositions and unquestioned beliefs on which they are founding their beliefs.
This kind of question is particularly useful if you're looking to build a strong argument around a new way of thinking.
Reasoning questions. These type of Socratic questions test the strength of the argument given. If an audience member is giving rationale for their argument in a facilitated discussion, dig into that reasoning rather than assuming it is a given. People often use weakly understood supports for their arguments.
This is also a useful questioning strategy when you're being asked a question that seems tricky to answer. Perhaps the question the audience member is asking is wrong, in which case a reasoning question would help them to see the fault in their own logic.
In a brainstorm you might want to expand the range of possible solutions in a group. Most arguments are given from a particular position. So challenge the position. Show that there are other, equally valid, viewpoints.
This is a great way to 'coach' an audience round to a new way of thinking.
This type of Socratic question helps analysing the implications of a line of reasoning. Do the argument we're following make sense? Is the outcome from this perspective desirable?
These questions start to bring the conversation towards a conclusion and are often used to start to sum up a discussion, or to develop action points.
Finally, if you're feeling really flash, you might get questiony about the question. In other words... allow the audience to evaluate the relevance of the discussion to them.
This is a useful tool to connect the audience to the purpose of your talk or discussion - and might be used towards the start of a talk to create audience buy-in, or towards the end to evaluate what has been discussed.
Skillful Socratic Questions can help our audience to connect with our material, question their traditional perspectives and buy into a new argument. I see any type of public speaking as a form of "teaching"... sharing information about a subject that is important to us and to the audience. Instead of throwing an endless supply of content at your audience why not help them actually think about your information by using Socratic questioning?
What would happen if you did? :-)
Learn the art of speaking with power and confidence that will allow you to wow your audience, in our free master class video series from Ginger's founder Sarah Lloyd-Hughes.
Begin Part 1 Now!