3 ms·

Great answers. The Judgement thing can be seen when you are at a conference or training and they say "there are no dumb questions". Personally I like to respo

• mindcrime 7y ago
  Respect and trust are also important, and kinda relate back to the "non judgmental" part. If you ask somebody a question that pre-supposes that they made a mistake, or are stupid, or don't know their own industry, etc., then that person is probably going to react in a very defensive fashion and put up walls to avoid talking to you. You have to show people that you respect them, and that they can trust you to treat them with respect and dignity, and not belittle or demean them. There's an idea that pickup artists talk about, called "enter her world". The notion goes something like this: if you're out at a bar, and you're a guy, and you see an attractive woman you want to talk to, you approach her and start a conversation, at which point you're just "another sleazy guy in a bar". But if you quickly demonstrate, using your questions, statements, stories, etc., that you have some understanding of the woman's world, the issues she has to deal with, etc., then you can "enter her world" and now you're not just "a sleazy guy at a bar". Now the barriers go down a little bit and the conversation becomes more personal, and more meaningful. OK, it's not a perfect analogy, but you can probably see the connection. The point is basically that you have to earn admission into someone's world if you want them to talk about things beyond a superficial level.