The Encyclopedia of Interactive Performance

Some questions invite spects to generate information, some limit their contributions, and some invisibly direct how they answer. Each kind of question can be useful, depending on what you are trying to achieve.

Open-ended questions – An open-ended question invites an expansive answer, allowing spects to generate their own ideas for the story.Topic questions are one type of open-ended question.

“Congratulations on getting engaged. How did you propose?”

Before asking an open-ended question, make sure that spects are playing strong and the context is well-defined; otherwise, spects may have trouble answering.

Closed-ended questions – Closed-ended questions produce short, factual answers. They’re a good way to help spects start contributing to the story. You can get them to expand on their brief answers by following up with an open-ended question.

“Who’s your advisor?” “Mr. Hooper.” “What’s he like?”

Leading questions – Leading questions produce answers that are shaped by an assumption within the question. This type of question can be used to establish exposition.

“Why are you quitting your job?” “This place is stifling my creativity.”

Be forewarned, if spects don’t like where the question leads, they’ll contradict it.

“Which nursing home are you going to put Grandma in?” “We’re not putting Grandma in a facility.”

The way you frame questions strongly influences spects’ responses. Used wisely, each type of question will serve you well.