Mastering the question-and-answer portion of any public-speaking appearance or presentation is critical to ensuring your audience walks away confident in your expertise, convinced of your main point and willing to accept your call to action. Ace the Q&A, and you are a winner. Fumble answering questions, and you may end up a loser.
That is why we are spending so much time on this portion of your presentation. We have already looked at how to prepare for Q&A in this blog post as well how to invite questions from the audience (here). Now let’s go through practical tips on handling the questions.
If this is a presentation to a small group at work, you probably will know most of the audience. If not personally, you will at least know who they are. If that is the case, always look to the most senior person first. The CEO, for instance. You should hope, of course, that your CEO is interested enough in what you had to say that she has questions. But if not, scan the room, first to the other higher-ups and then to everyone else. If two people start talking at the same time, you should take charge, pick the one who looks most senior to go first, and tell the other person that you will get to her next.
With a larger audience or one you aren’t unfamiliar with, you should check with your host to see if they have a format that they generally use. In some cases, audience members may be asked to put their questions on index cards that were left on each chair, for instance. In that situation, a worker would collect them and read them aloud to you one at a time. Other events may leave you to call on people directly. If so, ask the audience members to raise a hand if they have a question.
When calling on an audience member, try not to point with your finger. That may cause some confusion and some people think that pointing is a bit hostile. Use an open palm or say something like, “the person in red in the third row.” Aim to pick a questioner who has looked friendly during your presentation. This can be tricky but it would help your confidence if you get a friendly questioner first.
Thank You is Enough
After the audience member asks her question, the best thing to do is to say, “Thank you,” or “Thank you for the question.” Do not fall into the habit of saying, good question, “great question,” or any other superlative. It’s better not to judge, and there is no benefit for you to do so. If it is a great question, the audience would recognize it s such. If it isn’t a great question, but you say it is, you may lose a smidgen of the rest of the audience.
Especially if it is a question that some people would judge dumb. If you call such a question “great,” there is a chance that there will be some audience members who will think, “No, it wasn’t. It was stupid,” and you run the risk of losing their confidence.
“Thank you” works every time. Use it.
When the audience member is finished asking the question, make sure you understand it. Ask for clarity if need be, but try not to get into a one-to-one lengthy discussion with the member right away.
Once you are clear on the question, turn to the rest of the audience and repeat it. There are three reasons for this:
· You want to make sure that everyone present heard and understand what the question was
· You want to focus the question if needed or reword it to take the sting out if it is hostile (we will address how to do that in a bit).
· You want to buy yourself time to think of an appropriate answer.
Work the Room
When answering the question you should use the same technique regarding eye contact as you did during your presentation (see post here). Work each portion of the room, spend five seconds or a complete thought making eye contact with an audience member, and then move on to another portion of the room. Use hand gestures and vocal variety just as you did during your presentation.
You can end your answer while looking at the person who asked the question, just to make sure he is satisfied, but otherwise don’t spend a lot of time focused just on that one person. The entire audience should be your target.
Next we will go over some tips on handling hostile questions, rambling questioners, and situations where you simply don’t have an answer.
Comments