First, as a teacher/consultant/trainer/etc... - have you ever had someone ask you a question that made your head spin? Not because you didn't know the answer, but because you were bamboozled that they'd even ask it in the first place? (...as some of you may be feeling about THIS question...)

If so, what do you feel is the most appropriate way to respond to that type of question that would be most helpful for the asker? (Not least annoying or troublesome, but most *helpful*.)

(For example - do you answer, pretending like the question was okay to ask in the first place, or do you find some way to indicate that the question made no sense... or something else?)

Enjoy and have fun.

Ok, I have one:

It was early on in my training career, so I was a bit "shocked" that anyone would have the nerve to be so rude, but nothing shocks me anymore.

Learner: "And what is it exactly that you expect to teach us when you don't know anything about what it takes to <build a widget>"

My response: "Let's look at the objectives for the class today...You may notice how to <build a better widget>is not listed....however, <soft skill> is. In order to learn, or teach the fundamentals of <soft skill> it's not necessary to know how to <build a widget>"

Nothing earth shattering, but a contribution to the question.

You really have to step back from these questions a bit. Sometimes we get so into what we do that we think of many questions as "stupid questions."

I really think there's no such thing as a "question that is not okay to ask." There's always a reason behind every question. Maybe we're not being clear enough? Maybe we've left out something fundamental that we thought everyone understood? Maybe the asker is a new hire that doesn't understand the jargon or acronyms yet. Maybe they have a negative attitude towards the training - which is something else that we as trainers have to manage.

I'd never discourage any question, no matter how obvious in the interest of keeping a pressure-free learning environment where curiosity is encouraged. If it's totally obvious (to you), get some peer learning going on - "Great question, Kathy. Is there anyone in the room who might venture an answer?" You might find that NO ONE knows and brave Kathy is the only one who thought to ask!

I have seen a few categories of these questions. You may have more.

The Unrelated These might be questions such as "Why is the sky blue?" or "What is the meaning of life?" OK, those examples are poor, but you get the idea. These are sometimes asked when the class is relaxed, and their brains are full. I tend to answer these in class if there is time or put them off until after class "with a beer".

The Sort of Related "Can I do this standing on my head?" or "Will this work in Argentina?". I generally to try to discuss these if there is time. I get a lot of these when I teach computer security.

Those Based on an Incorrect Presupposition These are like Jonesie's post, and I tend to handle them similarly.

As andrea05 says, "I'd never discourage any question, no matter how obvious in the interest of keeping a pressure-free learning environment where curiosity is encouraged." But I do postpone some questions or direct learners to finding their own answers.