How to Write Objective Poll Questions by means of Intense Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming is as much of an art as it is a science. And when you brainstorm for ideas on what to write poll questions, it takes on a whole new dimension.

Learning how to brainstorm is easy. It may take everything you have to do it because it is brain-intensive, but usually the times are short and targeted.

The two main necessities in brainstorming are concentration and intensity. Don't reject any ideas initially. Instead you'll need to record them all so they can be used later. Use a whiteboard or a chalkboard if necessary.

To emphasize the point, don't reject idea (initially) because you think it's an irrelevant idea. That will come later when you see what you've actually written down. Increase the positive flow of information as much as possible.

Sessions last from five or ten minutes to a full week (the website Twitter was formed out of a brainstorming session that lasted an entire day). Your sessions should be intense and focused. But those five or ten minute sessions should be very productive.

To get the most out of typical brainstorming session you need a free and open environment, unencumbered clutter and chaos. A small group of three to seven brainstormers is best. Keeping it small keeps it more focused.

Next we want to brainstorm ideas for possible poll questions. Three to seven people may be a luxury for your group. You may be it! That's okay.

Make certain you keep the sessions short and focused. Give detailed instructions to the participants so they know what's expected of them. Five to ten minutes at a shot will generate a lot of good ideas. Next, Choose an overall category: sports, current news, religion, politics, that sort of thing. You may want to narrow your focus even more: for religion, choose a denomination. For sports, narrow it down to one sport, for current news or politics, choose a current international situation. You get the idea.

Now you're ready to associate, brain dump, and record. Here's how such a poll question brainstorming session could go: Sports leads to baseball, which leads to a steroids, which leads to a big name who's admitted to taking steroids. From there you'll need to determine if there's anything in the sporting news section about steroids or the big names in Baseball. Then you carefully craft a question that talks about steroids and the big names taking them.

As you do this, it becomes easier. Don't take shortcuts with this process. You may uncover several questions that you can use.