A cup reading speaks in images. The question you hold while drinking determines what kind of images you get back — which is why experienced readers spend almost as much effort on the question as on the reading.
Ask open questions
"What should I pay attention to this week?" "What's happening around my new job?" "What am I not seeing about this friendship?" These work because images answer naturally: a road, a key, a mountain, a letter. An open question lets the cup choose which one.
Area questions, not verdict questions
"What's the energy around this move?" beats "should I move?" The first invites a picture of the situation; the second demands a verdict the cup cannot honestly give — a reader who answers "should" questions is no longer reading, they're deciding for you.
The questions that do badly
Yes/no questions — the cup shows situations, not verdicts. Medical and legal questions — out of scope for any symbol system; see a professional. Third-party snooping — "does he love me?" reads better as "what's happening between us?", which is also more useful. Deadline demands — "exactly when?" The zones give horizons (days, weeks, deep future), not dates.
Holding the question
You do not need to say the question out loud — the traditional method is to hold it while drinking. Some readers ask for a name or initial to anchor the reading. What matters is knowing what you're asking before you look at the cup, so the symbols have something to speak into.
One question per cup
A cup answers the question it was drunk with. Serial questioners get muddled readings — and the tradition agrees with the commonsense view: one cup, one question, one sitting. When you're ready, photograph your cup with your question in mind — you can type it in, and the reader will hold it for you.