What 40 Years of Research Says About How We Shouldn’t Open a Meeting
“Do you have any data that backs this up?” A trainee asked me that mid-session about open vs closed questions.
I didn't… so I went and found some.
Turns out there’s 40+ years of behavioral research studies from the medical and criminal field. And when it comes to asking open vs closed questions, getting the first question wrong has real consequences.
Here’s what the studies say:
1: The “Interruption Problem”: In a study of doctor-patient visits, researchers observed that 77% of patients were interrupted by the doctors during their opening statements. Within an average of 18 seconds, the physicians would cut them off and redirect the conversation to a series of closed questions. Once interrupted, the patients almost never circled back to what they had actually meant to say.
The takeaway = Closed questions reveal our bias instead of understanding what’s important to others.
2: The “Running Long” Myth: The most common objection I hear to using open questions is some variation of, “we’ll never get through the planned agenda.” Luckily, this was also tested. Doctors were instructed to ask an open question and not interrupt, no matter what. How long did the patients talk? On average, just 92 seconds. 80% were done in less than 2 minutes.
The takeaway = People talk less than we think if we give them the chance to finish.
3: The Information Gap: Decades of research on investigative interviewing shows that opening with structured, closed questions caps how much information someone reveals. A meta-analysis of 53 studies found a 34% increase in the amount of accurate information recalled when interviews began with open questions. The best interviewers asked fewer questions overall and let the other person lead early.
The takeaway = Leading with closed questions means you’re potentially missing a third of the picture.
How does this apply to you? Your initial question shapes the rest of the conversation.
❌ A closed question signals, “I already know what I want to hear, just confirm it.”
✅ An open question signals, “I’m open to hearing what you have share.”
❌ Asking, “Are we on track to meet the deadline?” gives you a straightforward yes/no, but little information otherwise.
✅ Asking, “What’s the latest with our project?” uncovers what might actually prevent you from meeting that deadline.
When it comes to starting any meeting or presentation, always begin with open questions. From what the research tells us, it might mean the difference between making a fatal assumption or a well-informed decision.
Sources: Beckman & Frankel, Annals of Internal Medicine (1984); Langewitz et al., BMJ (2002); Köhnken et al. meta-analysis on the Cognitive Interview (1999).
