Naomi Henderson is founder and CEO of RIVA Market Research, Rockville, Md. This is an edited version of a post that originally appeared here under the title “Asking ‘good’ questions.”

Some months back, I was paging through Parade magazine (it comes with the Sunday Washington Post each week) and while I always like reading about celebrities, this time it became hard to concentrate on the article contents because the interview questions kept grabbing my attention.

Last year, in writing Secrets of a Master Moderator, I spent a lot of time on a chapter about asking the right questions of respondents. The impetus grew out of noticing I had fallen into a trap over the years of asking questions that fell into these categories:

• POAIQ (part of the answer in the question): “What makes you grocery shop after midnight – is it because they are restocking or because there are no crowds?”

• Leading Qs: “Do you ever think about retiring?” (Could lead to a simple yes/no with no explanation, requiring an additional probe to follow up.)

In the chart below is a list of some of the questions that were included in the Parade articles. I could see the person asking the questions had a strong point of view or was looking for a specific answer.

I think these questions rob the reader of a deeper insight about the person being interviewed and make the interview more about the one asking the questions than the one answering the questions. So, just for fun, I rewrote the questions. Look over each pair and see if you think the revision provides an opportunity to glean more than top-of-mind answers.

Parade question

RIVA-revised question
  • Did anything change in your career when you hit your 40s?
  • What, if anything, changed in your career when you hit 40?
  • Why isn’t Jason Segel writing the next Muppets movie?
  • What are some reasons Jason Segel isn’t writing the next Muppets movie?
  • Did the director watch the foreign version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo before directing the English version?
  • What can you tell me about the director’s decision to watch or not watch the foreign version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?
  • Is Nancy Grace still married?
  • What information is available on Nancy Grace’s marital status?
  • Did Tom Hanks meet the queen when he was in England?
  • Where can I find out if Tom Hanks met the queen on his trip to England?
  • Why did you start a foundation?
  • What led to the creation of a foundation in your name?
  • Why did you wait seven years to announce you had a medical condition?
  • Seven years elapsed between your diagnoses and your release of information about your medical condition. What were some reasons you waited?
  • You seem happy. Are you?
  • What can you tell me about your level of happiness these days?
  • Do I have to tip when restaurant service is poor?
  • What do you know about the rules on tipping when service at a restaurant is poor?
  • Some people would be so devastated by the diagnosis they’d contemplate suicide. Did you ever?
  • When you were at a low point a few years back, what thoughts crossed your mind when things looked dark and dismal?

I find myself mentally rewriting questions I hear others asking out in the world. One good thing about attending to questions around me is that it sharpens my listening ability, so I can hear a good question when it comes.

Further, by paying attention to poor questions and mentally rewriting them, I hone my ability to write “true” questions: ones that are neutral, non-leading and let the one answering say whatever they are willing to say without feeling wrong or grilled.

Next time you read or hear a celebrity interview, mentally revise the questions so they get the best data possible. Use the exercise as a way to continually strengthen your research-question muscle.