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Top 10 Ways To Avoid Answering A Direct Question

Mis
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Many individuals get confused when bombarded with direct questions they are unable to answer. Whether it is during an interview about salary expectations or a question from a significant other about a personal life, direct questions tend to stump people. This article looks at ways you can deal with such issues.

 

1. Changing topics:

One way to avoid a question is by changing topics. Give the speaker a clue that you are not comfortable answering. If you are at an interview and are asked an awkward question, rephrase the question in a way that puts the ball back in the interviewer’s court.

 

2. Silence:

Many people refuse to answer the question in whole. They may keep silent and become passive in a way to indicate to the speaker that they are not going to answer.

 

3. Distraction:

If you are being asked a direct question, distracting the questioner could work. You must be very subtle and know a good way to turn attention around.

 

4. Noun Clauses:

Research at MIT has shown that one can avoid direct questions using noun clauses. For examples, I want to investigate how/why/whether.

 

5. Making Excuse:

I’ll give you a known example that happened in real life. A guy was on a date. The date was not going well as he was bombarding the girl with questions she did not feel comfortable answering. She excused herself to go to the washroom. She proceeded to call her friend and asked the friend to call her back to release her from the date citing an emergency.

 

6. Lying:

Many people would not admit to the truth when confronted and bombarded directly. Many would cover up the truth to prevent it from coming to light.

 

7. Leaving:

Many people simply leave an uncomfortable situation when being bombarded with questions they cannot answer. They will make up an excuse such as I will call later, or I need to go, to prevent them from answering.

 

8. Ignoring:

The idea here is to nip a question in the bud. Do not allow the question to come to a stage where it could lead to a fight or confrontation. Some people find it difficult to ignore and choose not to confront the accuser.

 

9. Ask for rewording:

If you did not understand the question or do not know how to answer it, you may ask the person to reword. The person may reword in it a way that would be better for you to understand.

 

10. Pardon me! Excuse me!

Many people get the picture when someone uses the following phrases. The questions may have been out of line at that point.

 

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432 Responses

  296. Jeni Cardero

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    Reply

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