The Art of The Follow-Up Question

Let’s talk about the important skill of asking the follow-up question.

This is one of the most important skills you can develop.

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The Art Of The Follow-Up Question

{Transcript}

Welcome back to Legal Marketing Moments, my 2-3-minute podcast!

Let’s talk about the art of the follow-up question. This might sound trivial, but it is extremely important. In fact, probably one of the most important things you can be aware of when you are having a conversation with another person. And whether that is in-person, on the phone, on video, whether it be Zoom or Teams, or however else you are on audio, video or in-person with someone, this is really important.

When someone makes a comment to you about something, I want you to try really hard to not think about what it is that you are supposed to say next and focus very much on what they are saying. I had a conversation with someone close to me recently where he told me something about the conversation with another person, and I said, “Well, what caused that?” And he said, “I don’t know.” And so that caused me to think about the art of the follow-up, because when I asked him if he had followed up and asked him that question, and this was somebody who would have respected that follow-up question, wasn’t deeply personal, this person would have answered.

So I want you to remember that when someone makes a comment, whether that be about business, maybe they are sharing something with you that is personal, which is a clue. That’s a trigger that means they consider you close enough to share personal things with, so take that as that is. That means they brought you into their personal world.

But very often it is about business. And what I want you to do is to then think, well, okay, what is the follow-up question I should ask? And sometimes it’s as simple as,

“Wow, what does that mean?”

or,

“Why did they say that?”

Or any number of questions.

Somebody says, “Having a tough year,” don’t just let that sit. Again, they’ve trusted you. You might follow up by saying,

“I’m sorry to hear that. What does that mean?”

And then that doesn’t have to be it. Listen very closely to what they’re saying, and then decide whether a follow-up question is appropriate.

It is a conversation, so I want you to be very, very aware of it because when you are as aware as possible of what is going on in the minds of those who are important to you, then you stand the chance of building a more trusted relationship with that person.

And isn’t that what this is all about? You want them to know that they can trust you. Of course, you want them to know you’re smart.

All right, let me know if you have any questions. You can email me at nancy@myrlandmarketing.com, or if you’re somewhere where you can leave a comment, please do that as well.

All right, take care. See you next time.

{End Transcript}

Nancy Myrland, Legal Marketing & Business Development Advisor

Nancy Myrland is a Marketing and Business Development Advisor, specializing in Content, Social & Digital Media. She helps lawyers grow their practices by integrating the most important marketing practices to build their reputations and their relationships, which leads to building their practices.

Highly regarded internationally as a top independent* LinkedIn consultant, Nancy is a highly respected LinkedIn trainer and content marketing specialist. She helps lawyers, law firms, and legal marketers learn and implement content, social, and digital media strategies that cut through the clutter, making them more relevant to their current and potential clients.

She is also a personal branding speaker, trainer, and advisor, helping legal and business professionals understand the importance and the impact of defining and reinforcing their personal brand.

Nancy is also the founder of the hybrid self-study and online course about LinkedIn, LICFL*, which is a course where she personally guides lawyers through the sequential creation of their LinkedIn profile and presence.*

As an early and constant adopter of social and digital media and technology, she also helps firms with blogging, podcasting, video marketing, voice marketing, and livestreaming. Nancy also works with many firms and lawyers on Zoom and virtual presentation training and coaching to be the best they can be when presenting online.

She also helps lead select law firms through their online social media strategy when dealing with high-stakes, visible cases.

Long story short, Nancy spends a lot of time helping lawyers and legal marketers with:

*Nancy is not an employee or consultant hired by LinkedIn, although she was named a LinkedIn Top Voice on the platform in 2024! Top Voices is an invitation-only program featuring a global group of experts on LinkedIn covering a range of topics across the professional world, helping members uncover valuable knowledge relevant to them. Top Voices was previously known as the Influencer program prior to October 2022. Top Voices are vetted to ensure that they meet high trust standards, are consistently active on the platform, and share valuable expertise through content that demonstrates their unique, original contributions to a topic.

 

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