Thinking · Professional English · C1

Name the Question

Every hard question is one of a few kinds. Hear which kind it is, and you know how to think about it — and what to say.

A mind map of six kinds of question, with the thinking tools and real cases that fit each, and three lessons on saying the answer

Click a circle, or any label, to open it.

The pathway
Start here
1

Begin With the End

Three true stories about speaking with control of the room. Do these first.

Land itPause itHold it
→
You are here
2

The map of questions

Six kinds of question, and the thinking tools and cases for each. Click a circle.

→
Go deeper
3

Seven full lessons

A 50-minute lesson on each kind of question, with a capstone. Best after steps 1 and 2.

Experienced people do something before they speak that you rarely see: they recognise the kind of question they have been asked. Should we…? is not the same question as Why…?, and each has a way of thinking that works.

How to use the map
1 · Hear it

Listen for the question word.

2 · Name it

Find its circle on the map. Beware of look-alikes.

3 · Think it

Run that kind’s lens. It leads to a short list of answers.

4 · Say it

Point, reason, stop. Then hold it under pushback.

Go deeper: seven full lessons
1Try It Small, or Do It Now2The Price of the Pick3Ninety Days and Thirteen Thousand Bricks4The Risk Nobody Listed5Who Knew, and When?6Where the Tools Run Out7Name It, Think It, Say It
Take the quick test: which kind of question is it? →
Go further
Working in medicine?Lessons on questions under pressure, with real people on the other side.Think Inside the BoxThe full collection of thinking tools, each with the true story of who drew it.Start With Your Own ProblemBring a real situation and leave with a tool.Bet the CompanyThirty-two real decisions, argued from both sides.Beyond Reasonable DoubtSix cases that made the rules we live under.Begin With the EndLand it, pause it, hold it — the three lessons of saying the answer.Consulting Frameworks & LanguageThe structures consultants use, and the English that goes with them.