There seems to be confusion about what’s a legitimate clarifying question to ask during a mastermind Hot Seat. In reality, there are two types of clarifying questions.

1. Questions you ask directly after the Preamble so everyone is clear about what help the member is requesting
2. Questions asked during the masterminding, to dig deeper and understand the entire situation

What’s the difference?

The first type of clarifying question happens during the Preamble, directly after the member in the Hot Seat defines his Ultimate Question and shares his Backstory.

All the members (including the Facilitator) ask clarifying questions to make sure they understand the Ultimate Question. This is not the time for a fact-finding mission into the depths of the jungle! Instead, the purpose of these clarifying questions is to make sure you understand what help is being requested. Is there anything in the Ultimate Question that’s confusing? Is it clear what type of help the member wants and needs?

It’s possible, by asking clarifying questions right after the Preamble, the member will re-define their Ultimate Question and clarify what help they need.

The second type of clarifying question is used during the masterminding and brainstorming portion of the Hot Seat. Sometimes we need to know more about their situation, or what they’ve already thought about or already tried. We need to understand their goals, and why this problem is arising now. We are seeking deeper information, historical context, motivation, challenges, limiting beliefs, vision, and values.

Let me share an example

Joe comes to his Hot Seat with this Ultimate Question and Backstory:

How much should I limit who can be in my mastermind group?

My first mastermind group didn’t seem focused enough and people didn’t feel compelled to join it. The more I learn about mastermind groups, the more I see that facilitators have a background of skills and knowledge that they use to focus their groups around specific topics or specific goals. I have a background both as a business owner for many years and many personal growth topics I’ve studied, so I could use any of those topics for my next mastermind group and make it more focused.

A million clarifying questions spring to mind

There is so much more we’d like to know about Joe so we can help him! We’re just itching to ask questions!

Here’s where the distinction between the Preamble clarifying question and the Masterminding clarifying questions becomes apparent.

Look at this list below; which questions will help in understanding what help he needs from the group, and which questions will give you deeper insight into Joe’s situation?

• What type of business did you own? (MASTERMINDING)
• How long have you been in business? (MASTERMINDING)
• Are you asking “Should I limit the focus of my mastermind group” or are you asking, “I plan to limit the focus of my mastermind group — how tight should the focus be?” (PREAMBLE – we need to know if he’s already made the decision to narrow the focus/topic of his groups and wants to talk about the next step, or if he needs help deciding if he actually should narrow the focus.)
• Are you really asking us who is right for your group? Your original Ultimate Question was “How much should I limit who can be in my mastermind group?” but I’m not sure you’re asking about who can be in your group or if you’re asking about the topic of your group (and not asking about your prospective member audience)? (PREAMBLE – Joe did pose his Ultimate Question in a way that could be interpreted as him asking about who should or should not be in his group. His Backstory implied the problem was in the topic of his mastermind group, but his Ultimate Question didn’t clearly reflect that.
• Is your mastermind group related to your business and are you offering your mastermind group to the same audience? (MASTERMINDING)
• Did people tell you why they weren’t interested in your first mastermind group offer? (PREAMBLE – perhaps his Ultimate Question should be, “Why didn’t people feel compelled to join my first mastermind group?”)
• What personal growth topics are you interested in? (MASTERMINDING)
• Who is the target audience for your mastermind groups (PREAMBLE – perhaps his Ultimate Question should be, “Why did the specific people I invited to my first mastermind group not show interest in it?”)

So, the first set of clarifying questions is strictly to make sure we all understand the Ultimate Question and that Joe has chosen the right Ultimate Question for his Hot Seat. Once we know that, and we move on to the masterminding portion of the Hot Seat, we can ask fact-finding and insight-finding questions to probe deeper and find solutions.

Related Posts:

• Case Study: Clarifying the Hot Seat Prep
• How to Frame a Hot Seat Topic