Your questions are transactional
Every question is a trade. Ask in a way that makes the answer worth giving, and both sides get more back.
A question costs the other person time and attention. In return, it offers them something: a chance to help, to show expertise, to learn what you are working on. Every question is a small transaction.
Good transactions are fair to both sides. A question that shows your homework, respects the other person’s context and makes it easy to answer is a good trade. A question that outsources thinking you could have done yourself is a withdrawal from an account you will need later.
In client work this is the whole game. The questions you ask in the first meeting tell the client more about your competence than any portfolio. Ask about their users, their constraints and what success means to them, and they learn that you think about outcomes, not just tasks.
Try this
In your next meeting, prepare three questions that could only be asked by someone who did their homework. Notice how the conversation changes.