I do a lot of teaching observations.

I hear “Any questions?” in almost every class. And inevitably, the same one or two students reply “No”. Then the prof moves on. But what about the rest of the class? Maybe they do have some questions, but don’t want to speak up.

Here’s a simple switch that encourages questions.

Instead of asking "Does anyone have any questions?" profs should ask "Who has the first question?". And then wait 8 - 10 seconds, which seems like forever, to let students know you really do expect them to ask something.

Depending on the complexity of the concept, you may even want to add “Who has the next question?“ to extend the conversation.