What does “what you would have answered were you asked the same question” mean?

Question

I have a paragraph which is about how to talk to anyone, anytime, anywhere

To avoid stalling in a conversation, it helps to ask open-ended questions and to make open-ended statements. Ideally, you will get a great answer in return, but you cannot expect it. You have to be prepared either way, and if you get a not so great answer, such as “I don’t know,” or even a one-word reply, you can clarify the question by telling what you would have answered were you asked the same question

I think it may be a conditional sentence, but I don't believe in my opinion because it is different from conditional sentences I often see. Can anyone explain it? Thank you!

Answer 1

Another way to phrase the sentence is, "Clarify the question by telling (saying) what you would have answered if you were asked the same question."

It is a type of conditional used for past modal verbs. Past modal verbs are could, should, would, etc. "Were" is a past tense form of the verb "to be" that applies to second-person singular (i.e. "you") and 1st and 3rd person plural ("we", "they"). In this case, "were you" is equivalent to "if you were".

We would have gone to the party, if we were invited.

is the same as

We would have gone to the party, were we invited.

Answer 2

It's a hypothetical situation. In this case, "were you" is equivalent to "if you" and "if you were".

Imagine that you were asked the question. What would you have answered?