This morning I watched Meet the Press with Tim Russert and it was an interesting show. During the segment about the U.S. Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, Mr. David S. Broder of the Washington Post illuminated the segment with what questions Senators should ask Roberts:

” I’d ask him, for example, what does he think about what’s happening now in some of the states in this country? What does he think is happening in the relationship between the states and the federal government? What does he think about what is happening between the employers and employees of this country? Get some sense about where his sense of social justice may be, what his sense of obligation to the society, and particularly ask him, what does he think the law means to average citizens? What can they expect from the courts? If he wants to talk about predictability, that would be important to know. If he thinks that there are some specific issues where people have a stake in what the courts decide, we’d like to know that about him.”

I rushed to find a pencil and paper to write down what Mr. Broder said because it “clicked” with me. The questions he listed were simple, vague and open-ended so as to encourage Mr. Roberts to speak about what’s on his mind.

Essentially, I learned that asking a specific question and listening for a specific answer limits what can be learned about a person and what they think. Therefore, do the opposite because sometimes it can reveal more about a person than expected.

Visit Meet the Press’ website to download the podcast or read the transcripts of the July 31st show.

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