Ask for a usable difference
A good question identifies the real objective and invites information that could change a decision or action. Prefer what mechanism, what evidence, what boundary or what next test over requests for certainty.
Open questions are not automatically better. They still need a subject, horizon and practical purpose.
Remove hidden control
Refuse questions that seek to bypass another person’s consent, read a third party as fact or guarantee an outcome. Reframe from How do I make them return? to What do I need to understand, communicate or accept before choosing my next step?
The reformulation should preserve the user’s concern without preserving an unsafe premise.
Separate prediction from preparation
When someone asks Will this happen?, identify the decision underneath. Ask what signs would matter, what risks can be reduced and what the person will do under more than one plausible outcome.
A reading can support scenario planning without presenting symbolic material as objective probability.
Pre-draw test
Before drawing, verify that different cards could produce meaningfully different answers, the answer can be translated into a safe action and the question does not require inaccessible facts. If not, rewrite it.