Do you ever feel at a loss when trying to get a small group discussion or Bible study going? There's nothing much more frustrating for a small group leader than when a group falls silent and lets the leader do all the talking.

There's a good reason to get discussions going. The more actively people are involved in talking about something, the more impact it will have on their lives.

Ask open-ended questions.

A key way to get group members involved in discussions is to ask "open-ended" questions, ones that cannot be answered by one word (such as "yes" or "no").

Here are two examples of "closed-ended" questions, questions that can actually cut off discussions since they can be answered with silence or one word: "Do any of these points apply to you?" "Does anyone have any comments?"

Ten open-ended questions that get discussions going

The next time you lead a small group discussion or Bible study, ask some of these questions to get group members involved:

1. "Which of the five points we just discussed most applies to you? Why?"

2. "What do you think about that?"

3. "How does this section affect you?"

4. "What did you learn from this study?"

5. "What is one box you checked? Why?"

6. "Which of these points do you need to work on?"

7. "How does the memory verse relate to the chapter and to your life?"

8. "Which point in this chapter spoke to you the most?"

9. "Does anyone disagree with a point in this chapter? If so, why?

10. "What was your favorite part about this lesson? Why?

Doug Britton, MFT, has extensive experience in leading small groups as well as training group leaders. You can find free online information on small groups at http://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/onlinebiblestudies-smallgroupsandcellgroups.asp. Information about one of his books, "Group Leaders' Guide for Marriage by the Book," can be found at http://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/christianbibleadvicebooks/christianbiblebookmarriagesmallgroups.asp.