Probing

Probing is asking follow-up questions in order to gain more understanding. Examples of these questions include:

Can you explain further?
Could you put it in another way?
Can you please tell me more about that?
But why, how, who, when, where?
Anything else?

Probing is rather like peeling away the layer of an onion. The objective is to move towards the center of the onion. This means that by probing the facilitator can get closer to the real reason behind something or gain as much understanding as possible.

Why Probing is an Important Skill and When to Use it

Probing has many different purposes. It can be used to:

draw people out
clarify questions, input and/or opinions
create dialogue
solve problems

How to Probe Effectively

Do‘s

Listen actively
Build the next question on the understanding of the previous answer
Clarify information
Single our the problem or main points

Don’ts

Judge while listening
Jump from one topic or issue to another
Make assumptions
Lose track by getting bogged down in details

Adapted from The ART of Building Training Capacities Manual by Lydia Braakman, RECOFTC, page 188.

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