The Art of Questioning

This masterclass will take you step-by-step through the process of improving your questioning technique with tools and exercises to help you consistently create, sort & evaluate your own brilliant questions.

You will:
✔️ Learn about the different types of questions and when to use them

✔️Learn about the main characteristics of open and closed questions, advantages and disadvantages of using them

✔️ Learn simple yet powerful ways to generate, formulate, sort and evaluate questions in response to prompts, artworks and images

✔️ Learn to analyse, track & reflect on your own questions, turn closed into open questions (and vice versa)

✔️ Learn how to structure and sequence your questions

✔️Finally you will learn new thinking routines, techniques and activities that you can use regularly to perfect your questioning techniques

Here are the highlights with timestamps for the Art of Questioning video:

1.26 Schedule for the class

2.54 Rate your questioning ability

3.47 Why questioning is Important

7.19 What is a good question?

8.35 Different types of questions

10.00 Questions to avoid

11.18 Open and closed questions

12.13 Main characteristics of closed questions

13.20 Advantages and disadvantages of closed questions

14.14 Main characteristics of Open Questions

15.45 Advantages and disadvantages of closed questions

16.23 Issues with ‘why’ questions

17.18 Exercise 1 Questionstorming

21.20 Categorising your questions

22.19 Improving your questions

26.30 Encouraging participants to ask more questions

27.46 5 Enemies of questioning (Warren Berger)

32.05 How to create a Culture of Questioning

35.48 Becoming a curious questioner

36.32 Exercise 2 Creative Questions

37.49 Structuring and sequencing your questions: Opening, Core, Closing

40.45 Final tips on improving your questioning technique

42.35 Reflect and Exit Ticket

43.42 End

Duration: 43 minutes

Including PDFs

More about me:

I teach people techniques to help them connect with art. I believe art should be used as a tool to slow down, develop our personal and professional skills and think creatively. I love helping people to make connections with artworks and with each other and I’ve made it my mission to empower people through open conversation based on art and objects.

Praise for my other courses

The course was in my opinion perfect – super well-organised and much more personal than I would have expected. Claire, you are a master of making things interesting!

Bjorg Stefansdottir, Director International Office, Iceland University of the Arts

It was a pleasure to work with Claire [..] to be able to use the time during the pandemic restrictions in a creative way and get the best out of digital meeting tools has given us energy to develop new ways of working with our own digital offerings and also plan for future, physical, programmes in the museum.

Lena Eriksson, Nationalmuseum, Sweden

VTM and thinking routines have really changed both the way I teach and the way I help people approach a work of art. The results are outstanding and – on a personal note – I never get bored! Experimenting with new routines really allows you to shape every lesson/facilitation in a different way!

Elisa Mosele, English Language Teacher & Art Facilitator

I've learned a great deal from you, Claire, in your facilitation skills. And it was wonderful conversing with fellow educators around the world. I feel far more confident in my practice.

Gabrielle Grime, Heritage Education Officer

This has been such an inspiring course. I really feel I have grown from the whole experience. This course has changed my whole way of working/thinking/developing ideas. Thanks so much!

Tali Krikler, Freelance Learning and Participation Specialist at Tali Krikler Learning and Participation