Recorded Books Inc. - The complete book of questions: 1001 conversation starters for any occasion

To Jim Poole and Rosanne Vale
who endured their older brothers
relentless barrage of questions
and inspired a constant stream of new onesZONDERVANThe Complete Book of Questions
Copyright 2003 by Willow Creek Association All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan. ePub Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-31442-4 Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 ISBN-13: 978-0-310-24420-2 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

And unless youre lucky, its a rare thing to stumble across people with a healthy dose of both questions and answers. Im very lucky. My brother Jim Poole is simply a creative genius. Hes a witty wordsmith with an uncanny sense of whats what. Thanks for your astute observations and handing over all your great ideas. My colleague Laura Allen is a talented mastermind.

Shes a walking thesaurus with a heart of gold. Thanks for sharing your wealth of wisdom and keen insights. Thanks, Jim and Laura, for inspiring me to take this book to the next level and your willingness to go above and beyond time after time. My mother, Barbara Poole, and friend Judy Keene supplied lots of suggestions and polished the manuscript. Thanks for your contributions and editsthey were all good ones. The answer, my friend, is
blowin in the wind.Bob DylanCan I ask you
a question?Socrates Questions are great conversation starters. The answer, my friend, is
blowin in the wind.Bob DylanCan I ask you
a question?Socrates Questions are great conversation starters.

It seems everyone has a story to tell or an opinion to share. And to get it, you need only to ask. Good questions invite people to open up about themselves and divulge their thoughts and feelings on a wide variety of topics. Theyre the secret behind getting acquainted with someone you have recently met or learning something completely new about someone youve known for years. If you learn to pose the right questions, youll gain a better understanding of who your friends are and what makes them tick. Dont you appreciate it when someone asks you sincere questions? It conveys an interest in your opinions and insights.

It demonstrates a desire to know who you are and what you really think. And that means a lot. There is something powerful about questions that force you to think, look within yourself, examine your heart, and search for answers. And its in the process of responding to those questions that you often make discoveries about yourselfthings you never even realized before. Questions also function remarkably well in the context of discussion groups. They draw group participants into the dialogueless outspoken individuals are coaxed out of their shells and more talkative types are reigned in to focus on the issue at hand.

Asking great questions in a group setting is the quickest and easiest way to spark stimulating discussions. But even though most of us realize the importance of raising questions, asking good ones is sometimes another matter. They are not always that simple to think up. Thats where The Complete Book of Questions comes in! This book is one big compilation of questions1001 questions you can use in just about any context to launch great conversations. And many of these questions are likely to trigger other questions you may also wish to discuss. Think of this book as a tool to spark interactionto know and understand others, and yourself, better.

All of the questions in this book have been divided into ten categories for easy reference. Some questions, of course, might readily fit into multiple categories, so this is just one way to sort them. The box below gives a short description of each category of questions: Since this is a book full of questions, no answers are provided. Thats where you and your friends and family members step in! As you use these questions to interact with one another, remember there are no right or wrong answers. Dont feel pressured to respond in any certain wayjust be yourself and be true to who you are. Here are a few additional guidelines to keep in mind: Most of the questions are open-ended (seeking expanded responses), while others are closed-ended (calling for short, one-word answers).

In either case, develop your answer as little or as much as you feel comfortable doing. In the rare case you find a question that is irrelevant or not something you wish to answer, simply skip it and pick another one. The first several categories of questions are the most nonthreatening and, therefore, the easiest to answer. These are the best ones to use with new acquaintances. The last few categories contain questions of a deeper nature, which may best be utilized in settings where you know the other participants fairly well and are ready to tackle issues of greater significance. The Spiritually Speaking category lists questions that address very basic spiritual issues, while the Extreme Spiritual Matters section includes questions that will stretch and challenge you on your personal spiritual journey.

There are probably as many ways to put this book to use as there are questions within it! So be creative. Experiment with a variety of methods to apply these questions in different contexts. To get you started, consider the following ideas: Whether youre with one other individual or a whole group of people, use this book to spark conversations in different settings and occasions: social and holiday gatherings, road trips, meals, dates, discussion groups, family times, vacations, etc. Randomly select a number, read that question, and answer it. Take turns, inviting each person to pick a different numberor, if someone prefers, let him or her answer a question that was previously chosen.