In career conversations, the instinct to fill silence, offer solutions, or pack a session with resources can be hard to resist. As practitioners, we’re often trained to do — to guide, to structure, to add value visibly. But sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do in a session is less.
The technique: minimal-word questions
One simple way to embody this is through single-word, or minimal-word, questions. Rather than reaching for a lengthy, multi-part question, try:
“So…?”
“Say more?”
“And now?”
They look almost too simple to matter. But timed well, and asked with confidence, they can do more work than a carefully constructed, three-part question ever could.
Why they work
Minimal-word questions keep the client in their own thinking and processing, rather than pulling them into yours. A longer question — however well-intentioned — often smuggles in your framing, your assumptions, or your next logical step. A short one leaves the space genuinely open.
They also send a quiet but important signal: that you’re listening, that you trust the client to find their own way through, and that there’s room for them to go deeper if they choose to.
Trying it in practice
This isn’t about saying less for its own sake — it’s about resisting the urge to fill space that isn’t yours to fill. Next time you notice a pause forming after a client’s answer, try holding it a beat longer than feels comfortable, then offering nothing more than “say more?” You may find the client goes somewhere they wouldn’t have reached with a bigger question doing the work for them.
Want more practical techniques like this one? Follow Sonder Training Group on LinkedIn for regular career coaching tips, or explore our Level 6 Diploma to build a full toolkit of client-centred approaches.
