Traditional communication techniques focus on the use of open questions (which start with who, where, what, when, why, or how) or closed questions (which can only be answered with a specific piece of data, like yes or no, a date, etc.). NLP uses question forms that are more typically seen in therapy, called clean questioning.

Sue Knight, an NLP expert, describes clean questions like this: “To be ‘clean’ is to be naïve, present, open, not knowing, alert, aware, fascinated, eager to learn, and selfless.” (Source: Page 82, NLP at Work by Sue Knight)

Clean questions often have the following elements:

• Are in the present tense
• Use “And” as an opener and one of the 5 W’s or How as a closer
• Mirror the other person’s words
• Probe for more information