I try to go into a little detail at the beginning of our initial calls with students letting them know I'm going to be asking them some questions about themselves to get to know them a little bit better. When I don't preface the conversation with "I'm going to ask you a little about yourself, your goals, your past education," people seem to have much shorter answers. Maybe it's all in my head but they seem a little more open and relaxed when I use some sort of softeners with them.
