Most coaching questions aren’t as open as they seem

Coaches are trained to ask open questions. And for the most part, we do.

But many of the ‘open’ questions we ask are not quite as open as they seem and still subtly direct our clients.

“What do you think?”

“How do you feel?”

“What do you see?”

Each of these questions invites reflection, but they also channel it into thinking, feeling, or seeing. In so doing, these ‘open’ questions quietly influence how our clients process their experience, and limit the depth of our partnership.

Open-channel questioning works differently.

Rather than opening the answer, open-channel questions open the way the client arrives at the answer. They remove the words that channel our clients’ processing, and allow them to respond in whatever way is most natural and meaningful to them.

This is where questioning becomes a powerful tool for partnering with our clients, as our questions can either limit that partnership or fully open it.

For a third year running, ReciproCoach is offering a group mentoring session dedicated to developing the skill of open-channel questioning.

Led by MCC Melanie Parish, this session is fast-paced, highly interactive, and practical. An open-channel questioning bootcamp, with live coaching, stop-and-start guidance, and immediate application, participants experience how quickly questions can narrow a client’s thinking, and what it takes to keep question channels open.

You will practise open-channel questioning, notice your own default patterns, and begin to reprogram how you ask questions in real time. You will experience the difference both as coach and as client, and develop a skill you can take directly into your very next coaching conversation. This session also qualifies for 1.5 MCC group mentoring hours or ICF Core Competency CCEs.

The 2025 ICF Core Competencies place strong emphasis on partnering, responsiveness, and respect for the client’s identity, perceptions, style and language. Open-channel questioning supports all of these. It nurtures openness and curiosity, enables true responsiveness, and requires us, as coaches, to let go of subtly directing the process and become more comfortable working in a space of not knowing.

Once you experience open-channel questioning, you start to hear your own questions differently. You notice where you are subtly directing, and begin to fully open the coaching space for the kind of transformation that only happens when both you and your clients step outside default channels and into the open channels of the unknown.

Supporting you in your ongoing learning and development, Kerryn Griffiths, PhD, PCC Global ReciproCoach Coordinator