Originally Posted by genejockey

Part of my job running a research group is troubleshooting when something doesn't work. I always preface my questions with, "Some of the questions I'm going to ask might make you think that I think you're an idiot, but that's not it. I just have to ask them to make sure I understand everything." After that, they're not offended.

It does, however, remind me of a friend in IT at a previous company, who, when confronted with "My computer stopped working", always started by asking "What color is the power cord?", rather than "Is it plugged in?", because he'd get them to look without offending them.