Most disappointing readings were doomed before the first card, because the question could not be answered by pictures. Fixing that takes about a minute and improves everything downstream.

Four that go nowhere

• Yes or no. “Will I get the job?” A spread cannot say yes. It can say what the situation looks like, what is working against you, and what you are not seeing — all more useful, none of it a yes.
• Somebody else’s head. “What does he think of me?” You will get an answer, you cannot check it, and you will act on it anyway. Ask what is going on between you instead.
• The question with its answer inside. “Why does nothing ever work out for me?” That asks the deck to agree, and it will, because you will read it that way.
• The unbounded one. “What about my life?” Everything is about your life. Pick a corner.

What a workable question looks like

Open, about you, with a scope. “What should I understand about this offer before Friday?” works. So does “what is keeping this project stuck?” and “what am I taking on if I say yes?”

Notice the shape. Each asks for a description rather than a verdict, and each puts the person asking in the frame as somebody who can act.

When you cannot phrase it

Sometimes you know something is wrong and cannot name it. That is a legitimate place to start. Ask what this is really about, pull three cards, and use them to write the real question. Then read again properly.

And if yes-or-no is genuinely what you want, use a tool built for it rather than bending a spread into a shape it does not have.