What's the difference between でしょうか and ですか at the end of a question?

Question

I am having a little trouble understanding the nuance of でしょうか in comparison to ですか. People say it makes it more hesitant and polite, but that doesn't explain the nuance enough for me. Why would you say the line below? > あなたは「自分ってどんな人？」と聞かれたら、どのように答えるでしょうか. I don't understand what nuance でしょうか has - does it place the uncertainty on the listener like “how do you suppose you answer?” as opposed to “how do you answer?” That's my guess, but I need to understand the nuance. If there is no difference in meaning between one and the other I will never alter them.

Answer 1

あなたは「自分ってどんな人？」と聞かれたら、どのように答えるでしょうか

- If you were asked "how would you describe yourself," how might you answer?

The basic meaning of でしょう is "might/may be." This translation is making a rhetorical question with a falling tone. The speaker is probably making a point or inviting the listener to engage in some sort of longer dialogue. With a rising tone, it's less invasive because it's not direct like どのように答えますか might be.

Answer 2

Well, it can be two things. The answer you've received before for でしょうか ("hesitant and polite") is one way. This stems from one of the honorific forms of Japanese (keigo 敬語), where the word です is frequently replaced with でしょう to show more respect to the listener.

Your guess for the second main meaning is also correct. You could, for example, translate 「なんですか？」to "What is it?" and 「なんでしょうか？」"What do you suppose/think it is?" (Of course, this comes back to what you've been told before, that this makes the sentence more "hesitant.")