A person can be afraid of the answer and still deserve credit for asking.

Fear and courage get pictured as opposites, so the person who asks with a shaking voice is given less credit than the one who asks easily. The order is backwards. Asking when you already suspect the answer will hurt takes more from you, not less, and the dread is a measure of what the question cost rather than proof it was done badly. Steadiness is often just low stakes.

If someone brings you a hard question this week, acknowledge the asking before you answer. And if the frightened asker is you, count it as something you did rather than something you barely managed.