Tag Archives: moderating

My Favorite Question

Or at least, my favorite question that’s not related to a specific scenario:

“How would that work, exactly?”

Far, far, far too often, folks — especially those in politics or punditry — get away with sweeping, and sometimes compelling, statements about how things should/would work under the principles they espouse (or about the terrible way things work under their opponent’s leadership).  The only problem is, they’re not actually explaining the how it would work part.  And that’s the question that should always be asked: “Walk me through it.  Take us step by step and show us how it happens.”

The best case: the speaker knows what he/she is talking about, and by turning that knowledge into a concrete picture of how something plays out, conveys it to the audience far more vividly.

Worst case: Another liar is called out on his/her BS.

Examples: Continue reading