Don’t Lead The Witness

When coaching someone for a presentation, the key is to be super curious without an agenda. You don’t want to plant feelings or thoughts in their head. I call this Leading the Witness.

Here are two types of Leading The Witness questions:

1. PLANTING FEELINGS – Instead of asking “Does that make you feel sad?” ask “How does that make you feel?” If you say the word sad, then you are planting that feeling in their head that they are sad. Let them express how they are feeling.
2. ADMITTING GUILT – Instead of asking “Are you sure you being late to the meeting didn’t cause them to be upset?” ask “How do you think you being late to the meeting makes them feel?” In this type of question, a great way to know if your question is Leading The Witness is to see if you can add the phrase, “you dumb ass!” to the end of the question .