0040: The Four Options I Use To Answer Questions. Don’t Be Afraid of #4
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Show notes:
Hey there, hero!
People ask me a LOT of questions – in class, at workouts, events, online, via email, and on the phone.
And I try to be as direct and efficient as I can, because I want to help people get to their goals as quickly as possible.
I have four go-to choices I select from when answering questions.
And the fourth one is one many people are afraid of.
(I think if we were more comfortable with that choice when it’s appropriate, we’d all be better off.)
Thoughts? Let me know below.
Raw transcript:
Raw transcript
so when somebody asks me a question i have
followed the lead of many companies including
amazon and apple and older companies
actually going all the way back to
standard oil for this kind of framework
and i give one of four answers and each
one of those four answers is kind of
cool in its own right and the last one
might be surprising we’ll talk about all this in
this particular episode of the vo heroes podcast
so when a client or a student asks me a
question i try my best to be as succinct
and exact in answering that question as i
possibly can and i always choose from one of four
particular answers when i’m doing it the first
two are pretty obvious they’re for binary
questions that are yes or no questions and
the answer is either yes or no and i try to
be definitive about that i try to be sure before
i answer yes or no that i really mean yes or no
and those two are kind of easy to deal with the
third possible answer that i give is a piece of
data that i know to be correct so a number or a
model or a recommendation or a person a name right
so if somebody says to me what’s the level of dbs
that you want to normalize your auditions down to
then the answer is minus 3.0 so that’s a piece of
data so if yes we have no and we have data some
sort of data what microphone do you recommend
who should i talk to about this a piece of data
and then the fourth one is one that some
people are kind of not so happy to offer
um they’re a little bit afraid that if they
do offer it they’ll look like they’re not
very skilled or they’re not very experienced or
they’re not expert enough to be involved even in
the conversation and that fourth answer is i don’t
know but i’ll get back to you as soon as i do and
then i make a note to do just that i don’t know
is one of those answers that gives people pause
it makes them sit there and go do i really want
to show that i don’t know everything in the world
so yes no a piece of data and i don’t know
followed with i’ll research it and i’ll get back
to you you know that last one for me is actually
one of the joys of my life because i love finding
out new stuff i love not just knowing a lot of
things which is always fun but having the skills
to go find something if i don’t have it at my beck
and call and saying i don’t know automatically
raises that skill level of being able to go find
something because you learn ways to research
things you learn ways to use google and and amazon
and apple and other tools in your life and friends
your network right i don’t know is one of the most
underused answers that people have because of that
notion of um if i say i don’t know that makes me
look less of a person and i’m here to tell you
just like the notion of pausing and using silence
to gather someone’s attention which is very
counter-intuitive saying i don’t know is not only
pleasantly surprising to people but it makes them
respect you it makes them think to themselves
ah you know what this person likely would rather
tell me the truth then sugar coat things and
pretend that there’s nothing they don’t know
you know there’s no end to the stuff that i don’t
know and there’s no end to the joy that i get of
finding those things out so the next time somebody
wants to ask you a question think about limiting
your potential responses to those four answers one
yes two no three a piece of data that you know to
be true and for i don’t know but i’ll go find
out and i’ll get back to you i hope that helps
i’m david h lawrence the 17th i thank you so much
for watching and i’ll see you in the next episode
from YouTube
This reminds me of one of my favorite podcasts of yours — “Want better answers? Ask better questions.” I have referred to it several times. Sage wisdom indeed. https://youtu.be/jHRdVmclz70
This constant honing-to-purity of your responses, of knowledge, of your mentoring- and voice- skills is the reason I’ve followed you since the early 2000s, David.
It’s clear you want everyone to find their best path and to love their work as much as you love yours.
Back in the day we used to call it “sharing our toys”. Today I’d call it the most decisive action we can take to succeed at Cop26, correct global economic imbalances and hand future generations a planet better than the one we were given.
VO heroic, indeed. ✊😊 Thank you.
Thanks David. I learn a lot from you. I learned the #4 lesson early on in my architecture career. I was warned about another female architect that threw out quick answers to clients even if she didn’t know the answer. She didn’t want to look “dumb”. Little did she realize not only would she look “dumb” later but also like her answers couldn’t be trusted. People respect you for being human. They learn they can trust what you say. An what a great opportunity/reason to follow up with someone if you have to look something up. Being a person who follows through can be very impressive too.
Thank you for this, and esp for discussing #4 in your usual smart, warm, clear and helpful way. I completely agree with the value and power of being able to say I Don’t Know, but also the joy of following up to find an answer! I learned in a long teaching career that, tho it does make some folks uncomfortable to learn I’m not omniscient, most ppl appreciate and, as Vanessa says, trust me more for it. Another lesson in being authentic! And curious!
Great advice David. I like how you frame things.
Perfect! I am a big fan of #4 as well. Basically, I never ever want to give the wrong information and I love to look things up! It’s nice to know I’m not alone!
The best way to learn — on your own or from somebody else — is to admit, unapologetically, that you don’t have an answer. People who do have the answer (or, at least, an answer) will gladly set you right. If that resource isn’t available then, hey, you’ve got a shiny new goal to reach, a task to accomplish. If somebody’s waiting for you to come up with a response and enlighten them, all the better. You get to help someone out.
I’ve been using option #4 for years, and I find that it takes the burden off of me to be that Super Expert when it comes to, say, helping a customer find out about a product. Besides, once I get an answer for them, and they see that there’s no great mystery to the process, it empowers them in ways they don’t expect.
There is a tremendous joy in ‘finding out’ for yourself or others. There is also a rush of power with that joy, in the best sense of that word. I’m of the age where we had to go to the library and use a card file, generations before the internet and keywords became the norm. (It made me an ace with both.)
Who had all the power at the library? The librarians at the Reference Desk, because THEY knew how to “find out” the answer to any question they were asked. Which librarians were always the happiest? The staff at the Reference Desk, because they experienced joy every day — by being able to take in knowledge, then share it with those who needed it. Even as a child, I realized they had the best job ever! Please never be afraid to ‘find out’ when you don’t immediately know, because you’re enriching your own knowledge base as well as someone else’s. It’s the ultimate win-win.
David , Very helpful as I was looking for ideas for a future podcast. Wishing you success as we both are on the voice-over podcast journey.
Best regards,
Earl Thomas