Don’t ask ‘Why?’

I try not to ask why.

‘Why’ questions tend to put people on the defensive, especially those earlier in their careers.

• Why did we use this Subject Line in the email newsletter?

• Why does the pop-up work this way on our desktop website?

• Why is this social media post designed this way?

• Why is SEM performance down this month?

Instead, I try to ask ‘What’ and ‘How’ and ‘Tell me about’ questions if I want to learn more.

• What was the inspiration for the Subject Line in the email newsletter?

• Tell me about the design of the pop-up on our desktop website.

• How do we want our audience to engage with this social media post?

• What have you seen in the SEM data that helps us better understand performance this month?

I know. This change feels like one of those awful, cheesy LinkedIn posts, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Give it a shot. Holler if you hate it.