Answer Intelligence AQ
ABC, Always Be Closing, 2.0: Answers Build Closure
Questions are for curiosity and answers for influence
Communication is hard. Both you and me have faced numerous situations which afterwards felt like "I should have said also this or that..". As an examples, poor communication leads 50% higher employee turnover and 90% of failed business transformations are due poor communication.
And general AI is not making life any simpler. It's easier and faster than ever produce material for every communication situation. But recents studies show that material produced by AI is not well internalized even by the person asking for it.
Teams, Meets and Zoom meetings, sales presentation, marketing, all-hands meetings, management team meetings, customer conversations, stage speeches, fair events, social media postings, LinkedIn profiles, recruitment CVs and applications, webinars, influencer activities, building thought leadership and so on - all are situations where a person/s communicate with other person/s. And those situations should be meaningfully influential.
For decades they have taught us to ask "The Right questions"
"Remember to ask the right questions". That has been the #1 business rule for ever. It has been taught to us in school. In sales. In HR. In leadership. In relationships. In parenting. You name it. The one rule to rule them all for influence: Ask the right questions.
But recent studies how that questions are not enough.
For communication to flow as expected you need both questions and answers. Otherwise communication is not balanced and most likely will lead to challenging outcomes or poor results. For balanced communication to take place you use questions for curiosity and answers for influence. It's not about asking the right questions or being able to give the right answers, it's actually both that matters.
For questions we know there are the six question types, the 6 Ws as; why, what, how, when, where and who. And for answering these, you are able to create clarity and be influential by matching those with the 6 answer types as using theory, story, concept, metaphor, procedure and action. But it's not one-to-one matching.
Remembering to ask the right questions" is not enough any more.
The six Ws: Why, What, hoW, When, Where and Who
There are six question types, but actually, only 3 of the are recognized as a primary question type. These primary question types are why, what and how. Crucial skill is to recognize which primary question type is used when you hear a question. Only after recognizing the question type you can provide an influential answer, or, answers.
In short, primary question types can be recognized by understanding are you being asked for:
Structural knowledge >> Why-question; why we should buy from you?
Declarative knowledge >> What-question; what is the idea?
Practical knowledge >> How-question; how to get things done?
Rest of the 6 Ws (where, when and who) are for the context of the situation. Context can enrich and alter the situation greatly. For example it's very different if the who is your company's MD or team leader when you are having annual appraisal talks.
Take a moment and think how other context parts changes during your appraisal talk depending with whom, where and when you are having the talk?
Answers are for influence
What if you could nail the answer to any question, the first time? What if there would be a way for anyone to craft the most impactful answers based on any topic or scenario? And this model could then pair the 6 Ws with effective, influential and meaningful responses? Well, there is.
I got to know Dr. Brian Glibkowski, the father of Answer Intelligence AQ during 2024. Proven on his academic study, Answer Intelligence AQ is the model (and also an AI tool, more about that later) for greater influence, faster closures and emotionally meaningful conversations. And the best part is, that the model itself is simple to use, it works with every conversation topic and situation, and, it's backed up with purpose-built AI solution that support you already on preparing phase.
They call AQ a Super skill - because it also makes all your other skills better!
What if you could nail the answer to any question, the first time?
Answer Intelligence AQ
Answer Intelligence AQ is based on academic research by Dr. Glibkowski. You may have seen his book explaining the results of the study with very interesting case studies around different business related topics.
In short, AQ is about the answer types.
There are six answer types; story, metaphor, theory, concept, procedure, and action. You can fully incorporate questions into those answer types for influence.
With the AQ model you can elevate your understanding of questions and answers, and also, understand what it means to communicate effectively with influence. There are High AQ practices defined that distinguish expert communicators.
These High practices can be learned by everyone and then use on different communication situations such in sales, marketing, interview, recruitment, leadership, pitching, coaching and so on.
There is actually no limits to which communication situation you can apply the AQ model.
The High AQ Skill Set
For being an expert communicator and ensuring your message influence the person or crowd you are communicating to, we need to master the different High AQ skills. The skills are:
Question type recognition - Why / What / How + When / Where / Who
Provide the best answer - story / metaphor / theory / concept / procedure / action
Answer twice - Appeal both the emotional and logical side of the brain
Provide complements - Add adjacent answer type to complement the best answer type
Answer with style - Create emotional / personal / result oriented / clarifying / explaining / predicting influence
Answer in context - Frame the answer by understanding and reflecting the context
Be transformation - All answer types should be used as consistent and mutually reinforcing entity
Elevate your content - With purpose-built AI, the AQ Upskilling Platform, you can jump to the next level when preparing for your future communication event.
Expert communicators apply The High AQ Skill set in their everyday communication. Using High AQ creates three primary benefits: (1) elevated answers result in greater influence; (2) intentional communication saves you time; and (3) AQ conversations flow better resulting in increased energy and engagement.
Benefits from learning the AQ model
I have good news for you. Already knowing, that there is a model for effective and balanced conversations, gives you leverage. And when you learn the AQ model, and are able to use it as an active tool both during your preparing phase and on any communication event, you have have gained really powerful edge on any conversation. You can use it like a conversation compass.
Best way to learn Answer Intelligence is joining one of our training programs. Sure, visiting our homepage or Answer Intelligence https://www.raiseyouraq.com/ you can have the general information. But if you really want to master the skill faster and more detailed, then apply to one of our cost-effective training programs. You can choose the program focusing only on AQ or, having AQ embedded as part of the training, see example here The Chief Negotiator Program.
After the training you are able to use Answer Intelligence for your benefit by understanding:
What is Answer Intelligence and what are the 6 answer types
How to match every question with the best answer type
How to spot the best answer type
The AQ Circumplex "the wheel" model and how to use as a conversation compass tool
How to be clear and memorable with using Concepts and Metaphors
How to influence both the logical and the emotional thinking and decision making processes
How to use Story and Theory answers for unlocking the Why
How to use Procedure and Actions to win the conversation
How to add add clarity happens through complementing anwer types
How to match your answer style with the buyer
When context matters and which way
Transformations between different answer types
..and many more learnings
+ The AQ Upskilling Platform will support you all the way. You learn how to use this purpose-built AI tool whenever you are preparing or getting ready for any topic in any communication situation.
++ you became a part of a great community!
Thank you for taking the time and reading my blog!
With all comments, feedback or questions please contact me and let's continue discussions.
More information you find also www.chiefconversationofficer.com
Petri, CCO
