"Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers."  -- Anthony Robbins

I have heard it said that a question mark "?" is a hook that helps to catch ideas.

Steve Long and I were the headliners for a regional clown festival.  We were both scheduled to perform at the awards banquet.  I suggested that it might be nice if we did a routine together.  Steve immediately agreed and suggested that we perform Stagecoach.  I was familiar with the routine which had become extremely popular after it was published in a skit book by Barry DeChant.  At the time I performed exclusively without speaking and the skit as normally performed had two speaking roles.  I initially turned down Steve's suggestion.  During the afternoon I asked myself, "Is there a way it can be done if one person is silent?" I gradually realized that the person riding shotgun didn't need to speak except for the punchline.  Then I changed my question to, "Is there a way that the punchline can be done silently?"  I eventually found an answer to that question.  I did a short charade of the punchline, which Steve interpreted for the audience.  Since we were freed of the normal script we both improvised freely during our performance and it was a great success.  That success was a direct result of me asking myself asking a question.

This newsletter resulted from a series of questions.  In 1995 I began writing and publishing The Clown In Times, a quarterly journal devoted to clown history.  I used the welcome letter in each issue to promote events where I would be lecturing.  In the spring of 2001, I decided that it was time to do something different.  My first question was, "What can I do to promote my lectures?"  My answer was to start a web site.  I attended some lectures on promoting a business using a web site.  I asked the instructors, "What is the most important thing you can do with your web site?"  The answer I received most consistently was, "Have some content that changes so people will come back to your web site.  The more times your web site is viewed the higher you will be ranked by search engines."  (That answer has since changed.  Search engines currently use additional criteria.)  I asked myself, "What can I easily change?"  My answer was a weekly motivational thought for entertainers because that would give me a schedule for making changes. I posted the first Thought of the Week on my web site on May 2, 2001.  My next question was, "How can I get the word out to others?"  Rick "Soda Pop" Struve was publishing a popular internet newsletter at the time.  I submitted that first Thought of the Week to him, which he reprinted it with information on how to find the current Thought on my web site.  Some of my readers requested that I send them the Thought For The Week as an email, so I began my subscription list.

Also in May 2001, I completed the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) Course.  Life application questions are an important part of that course.  For example, the book of James directs Christians to not just read the Bible, but to put it into action.  James lists looking after widows as one way to do that.  When we studied the book of James in BSF, we were asked, "Who do you know that is a widow?  How can you look after them?  What specific action can you take?"

After finishing the BSF course, I took a BSF graduate seminar on leading Bible Study classes.  Our instructor stressed the value of using questions as a teaching tool.  Discovering the answers themselves, guided by your questions, has much more of a lasting impact on students than if you simply gave the answers.  Also, except for questions of fact, the same answer is not valid for every student.

So after the first few Thought of the Week articles, I began ending each one with questions for you to consider. 

I began work on my Creativity for Entertainers trilogy early in 2002.  I ended each section of those books with questions to inspire you to come up with your own ideas.  (You can read more about using questions as a creativity tool in Creativity for Entertainers Volume Two: Creative Tools and Techniques.)  Patty Wooten said, "After I finish reading a book, I often think about the author's ideas.  But after reading these books I found myself thinking about my own ideas."

How often do you ask questions of other people?  How often do you ask yourself questions?  What results do you get?  What questions do you need to ask again to see if the answers are still valid?  How can you learn to ask better questions?