Avoid negative questions

Suppose you say to a customer, “You don’t have Word installed?” and he answers “Yes.” What does he mean? Yes, you are right, Word is not installed? Or yes, he DOES have Word installed? Asking a negative question creates confusion. It’s clearer if you phrase the question positively (e.g., “Do you have Word installed?”) or ask an open-ended question (“What applications do you have installed?”). If you must use the negative, try a question such as “Am I correct that you don’t have Word installed?”