Let me say this right upfront: When you are public speaking you want audience members to ask questions. A company presentation that leads to silence almost certainly means your listeners didn’t connect with you and weren’t convinced by whatever you argued.
So have the right attitude toward questions from your audience. You should embrace them as an opportunity to build a deeper connection with your listeners, drive home your main point and reinforce your call to action. Even hostile questions should be welcomed, and we will address how to handle them a bit later.
Think of the question-and-answer portion of your appearance as just as important as your speech or presentation itself. Because it is.
In this post we are going to go over what you can and should do to prepare for whatever questions may come your way when you speak or give a presentation. Do these steps each time and you will come across as well-prepared and confident. And, as mentioned before, an audience that sees you are confident will be more willing to trust what you are saying. They will be more open to accepting what your main point is.
The first thing to do to prepare for Q&A is to review your presentation and generate as many questions as you can about it on your own.
· Is there anything that might be unclear? Controversial? In dispute? Assume there will be questions about those areas. Are there any sections where people may want more details? More examples? Again, assume there will be questions.
· Is it possible someone will ask for next steps? Or forecasts? Or estimates about something in your presentation.
· If your presentation includes anything that touches on other departments or projects, assume you may get questions on the possible impacts.
· Are there any off-the-wall or out-of-left-field questions that your presentation might generate?
Write down everything that comes to mind. No matter how unlikely you may think the question might be. Write it down.
Who is Your Audience?
Now think about who will be attending your speech or presentation. (Remember, in an earlier post I told you to find out as much as you can.) Consider what kinds of questions they might have, even if they are tangential to your main point.
As I mentioned above, someone from a different part of the company might ask if your proposal affects that department. You should be prepared to address that, even if you think the answer is obvious.
If someone from finance is going to be there, she may have questions even if your presentation doesn’t involve funding.
If your presentation is somewhat technical, you should anticipate questions from a layperson who may want you to explain in plainer language something you addressed when you were speaking.
The reverse could be true as well. You may have spoken about something in general, but a subject matter expert may ask a more technical question. Again, write down everything that comes to mind. No matter how unlikely
The Extra Mile
If the presentation is of high consequence, enlist a coworker familiar with the topic. Do the presentation, and ask for any random questions that come to your colleague’s mind. Your coworker will almost have some you haven’t anticipated.
If you are addressing an audience that you know nothing about, see if you can find anyone who would be familiar with the people who will be attending. Ask if there are any general questions that they can remember were asked in past presentations and examine whether similar ones may come up with yours.
Write them all down.
Now that you have a list of possible questions you are ready to move onto the next step, which will be addressed in the next post.
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