Monday, May 24, 2010

Leading Questions

It goes without saying that the English language is incredibly complicated. Though this can make things much more difficult, it does allow us to do some cool, subtle things. For example, we can subtly influence perceptions with a slight change in words. One such example is using leading questions.

If you ask somebody, "are you excited", it is a yes or no question. When you ask that, people will consider the two options thoroughly. However, if you instead ask, "how excited are you", this changes the frame of reference. Although the person could still respond with "not at all", that is only one option of several; when you ask a leading question, you give more positive options.

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